Summer Romance
by Riley 35
Summary: It's summer and Jill is out of the Experiment House and ready for a hectic summer with her stressed, divorced, mother and little sister, but she keeps running into Eustace, who she might have some feelings for, and summer is the perfect time for romance.
1. Chapter 1: The Dentist's Office

**Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia and its characters do not belong to me, however they do belong to the genius that was C.S. Lewis**

**Chapter 1: The Dentist's Office**

It was a sunny June day and Jill Pole was happily walking home from school. She was usually not that happy when she came home from school, but it was the second to last day of school and the next day the summer holidays would have come. That meant the Jill could finally get out of her school, otherwise known as the Experiment House.

The Experiment House had improved a little. A temporary head master had been assigned to the school and he had been keeping a close eye on the bullies. But after one more year Jill would be entirely free from the Experiment House and off to High School.

Jill took her time as she leisurely walked down the sidewalk. Only one more day before she was free to do whatever she wanted for three months.

"Hello Mum, Lily." Jill said getting into her house and putting her book bag onto the counter. Jill lived in a small two-story house with her mother and her seven-year-old sister Lillian.

"Jill, you are finally here." Mrs. Pole said as Jill walked into the kitchen. "Did you forget that you had to take Lily to the dentist after school? I told you to hurry up." She scolded her fourteen-year-old daughter.

"Sorry Mum, I forgot." Jill said.

"You forgot, it's always 'I forgot' with you Jill, when are you going to become more serious about things? I cannot run this household by myself!" Mrs. Pole yelled angrily. She had a good reason to be cranky. She had woken up at five in the morning to go to work, finished work at noon and cleaned the house, rushed to pick up Lily from school at two o'clock and had just started making dinner.

"Alright, I'll take Lily right now. Dentists always make you wait in the waiting room forever anyway." Jill said. She was a bit annoyed that she did not have any time to change out of her uniform. She hated the experiment house uniform, a black and white plaid skirt, black shoes, white knee high socks, and a white button up shirt. The Experiment House allowed absolutely nothing to be worn in the girls' hair and absolutely no sorts of earrings, necklaces, or any other kinds of jewelry. For a school that was supposed to be modern the Experiment House was pretty strict.

"Lily!" Jill called through the house for her little sister.

Lily came out ready to go with a light blue jacket over her pink overalls, and her shoes laced up.

"Are we going now?" Lily asked, she had been waiting for fifteen minutes after her mother had gotten her ready.

"Yes we are." Jill said putting her jacket back on and taking Lily's hand as they walked out of the house.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?" Jill asked her sister. Usually whenever she took Lily anywhere she would have to jog to keep up as her sister exuberantly skipped and hummed all the way there. 

"How come Mum's always mad at us?" Lily asked. "It is not our fault daddy left." Lily said.

"She's just stressed Lily." Jill said. "Everything's going to be okay." She assured her.

"If you say so." Lily said. She started skipping and Jill could tell she felt a little better.

"I hope the dentist doesn't pull out any of my teeth." Lily said as she skipped.

"He will if you've been eating too many sweets." Jill told her sister seriously.

"I haven't, and I've been brushing my teeth every morning and every night and drinking lots of milk. See" Lily said bearing her teeth to her sister.

"Oh, I think I see some cavities in there Lily." Jill teased her sister.

"No you don't." Lily said giggling.

The bells over the door tinkled as Jill and Lily walked into the building.

"Hi, we're here for an appointment." Jill said to the receptionist. "For my sister, Lillian Pole." Jill said gesturing to Lily who was standing right next to her.

The young women looked down at Lily and the looked the two girls over. "I'm sorry, but we need a parent to sign these forms." She told Jill showing her a packet of papers.

"Well we live with our mother, and our parents are divorced, so, I'm kind of like Lily's second parent." Jill said.

The women's face softened. "Alright, then, I am sure we can make one little acceptation for you two." She said handing Jill the papers. Jill quickly filled out the papers and gave them back to the receptionist.

"You can wait in there." The women told the girls pointing towards the door that led into the waiting room.

Jill nodded, took Lily's hand and walked into the waiting room. There were only two other people in the waiting room, a middle aged man, and an old women. Jill and Lily sat in the corner and Jill gave Lily a coloring book and a box of crowns, which she had managed to get from the house before she left.

* * *

Jill sat in the waiting room practically bored to death. The old women who had been in the waiting room had already had her teeth checked and left, though if you had asked Jill she would have said it had been a waste of the old women's time and money since she had hardly had any teeth left in her mouth. Now the girls were all alone in the waiting room and they were waiting for the dentist to finish on the man's teeth so Lily could have her check up and they could leave. 

Jill checked her watch, five o'clock, she would hardly have time to go finish her homework when she got home. The teachers at the Experiment House were merciless they even gave homework on the second to last day of school

Just then Jill saw two girls walk by the store through the window who were wearing the same uniform as her. She realized with dread that it was Adela Pennyfather and Edith Jackle. Adela was one of the worst bullies from the Experiment House and Edith was the girl who pathetically followed her.

To Jill's horror Edith noticed Jill sitting in the Dentist's window and pointed her out to Adela. The two girls smiled sinisterly to each other and walked into the building, 'Great.' Jill thought. 'As if I don't get enough of those two at school.'

Jill heard the tinkling of bells form the door in the front of the building and soon enough Edith and Adela came into the waiting room.

"Oh look Jackle, I think it's Pole, our dear friend from school." Adela Pennyfather said.

"I think you're right Pennyfather." Edith said standing behind Adela. She had always been one of the two faced kids who followed the Experiment House bullies and sucked up to them to avoid being picked on herself.

"So Pole," Adela started, Edith standing behind her looking as eager as a little chipmunk. "What are you doing here, you know a dentist can't possibly fix those horribly crooked teeth of yours."

If there was one thing Jill had learned in her recent adventure to Narnia was that people like Adela Pennyfather and Edith Jackle could not hurt her, and she would certainly not give them the pleasure of seeing her cry.

"It's none of your business what I'm doing here." Jill told them.

"Wow Jackle, I think Pole here has developed a little attitude." Adela said to Edith.

"Too much of hanging around with that Eustace Scrubb if you were to ask me." Edith said.

"Well no one asked you." Jill retorted. Lily had stopped coloring and was watching and listening to her sister's exchange with the mean faced girls.

"Well I'll tell you what she is doing here." Adela said. "Taking her little sister to the dentist."

"Brilliant deduction Sherlock." Jill said sarcastically.

"Look its Baby Pole." Edith said turning to Lily realizing that there were getting nowhere with Jill.

"Forget what I said about your teeth, what is going on with those rabbit teeth you have Baby Pole?" Adela said to Lily, her and Edith laughing.

Lily covered her mouth with her hand. Lily had always been sensitive about her buck teeth, the kids at school constantly called her 'Bunny Girl'.

"I bet the dentist is probably going to have to pull one of those rabbit teeth out." Edith said.

"One of them? How about both them?" Adela said her and Edith still laughing hysterically.

The tears started to pour out of Lily's eyes.

"Oh look Edith, I think we made Baby Pole cry." Adela taunted.

Jill turned red. Picking on her seven-year-old sister? That was just low. Before Jill could tell the two girls off the receptionist came into the waiting room looking terribly put off.

"I suggest if you two are not here for an appointment you leave." She said to Edith and Adela.

Edith and Adela left giving the receptionist a begrudging look and glaring back at Jill.

The receptionist asked Lily if she was alright and gave her tissues to dry her face and a lollipop to make her feel better before she had to go back to her desk outside the room and continue doing her job.

A few minutes later Lily was still crying at the catty girl's words, her lollipop untouched.

"It's alright Lily, you shouldn't care what those two girls say. They're stupid." Jill comforted her sister. Lily's tears finally stopped and she sobbed quietly whiles Jill wiped the tears from her face with the tissues the receptionist had given Lily.

Jill heard the tinkling from the bells on the building's front door again and hoped that it wasn't the two girls back to bully them.

Some minutes later the door to the waiting room opened and a women and a young boy walked in. The women looked very modern and up with the current fads, than Jill noticed the boy with her was…

"Now Eustace, I've done all the paperwork, all you have to do is go in their and tell the dentist what's wrong whiles I shop, alright?" the boy said rapidly.

Eustace mumbled in agreement before his mother left.

Eustace saw Jill and Lily sitting in the corner and walked towards them.

Jill's smiled at Eustace when he sat down next to her.

There was no doubting that Jill's feelings towards Eustace had changed after their adventure. Before she could hardly stand Eustace and thought he was a horrible little follower of all the bullies at the Experiment House, but somewhere along Eustace had changed and become noble, just, and brave and after getting to know Eustace Jill's feelings towards him were now friendly, maybe even enamored. Not that Jill and Eustace had spent much time together after they had become friends, just the occasional greetings in the hall and conversations during the classes they were in together.

"Hello Scrubb, I didn't know you would be here today." Jill said.

"Neither did I." Eustace said. "I-Hullo-what's wrong with your sister?" he asked hearing a miserable sob coming from Lily.

"Pennyfather and Jackle were just here." Jill said, those names were explanation enough for why anyone would be crying.

"Oh, I see." Eustace said. 'What's her name?' he mouthed to Jill so Lily would not here.

'Lily'. Jill whispered.

"Hey Lily, what's wrong?" Eustace asked.

"Those two mean girls said I have rabbit teeth." Lily said.

"Well I had buck teeth when I was your age." Eustace told her in a matter-of-fact voice.

"You are just saying that to make me feel better your teeth are normal sized." Lily said.

"No really, I did." Eustace insisted. "But they went away, lots of little kids have buck teeth."

"Really?" Lily asked.

"Really." Eustace assured her.

"…I don't want them to pull my teeth out." Lily said.

"They won't, believe me." Eustace said.

Lily looked at him and decided to trust him. "Okay." She said smiling.

Jill smiled she had never known Eustace could be so kind.

"So why are you here?" Jill asked him.

"Well Pole, what I was saying was that I didn't know I'd be here." Eustace said. "I just realized today I had a cavity and my mum made a last minute appointment.

"You must have eaten too many sweets." Lily said.

Jill smiled. "That's right, Scrubb here isn't as smart as you about keeping his teeth clean." She said teased Eustace.

Just then the dentist came out from his office. "Lillian Pole?" he asked questioningly.

"That's me." Lily said standing up. "Jill, can you come with me?" Lily asked.

"Sure Lily, I'll be there in a second." Jill said.

Lily walked into the office.

"Thanks for being so nice to my sister." Jill said to Eustace.

"No problem." Eustace said with a shrug. "I never had any younger siblings myself, always wished I had though." He said modestly.

Jill smiled at him one more time before she went into the dentist's office. It was looking to be a very interesting summer.

**And that's the first chapter. I hope everybody who reads this likes it. Please read and review.**

**KatRules**


	2. Chapter 2: The Long Walk Home

**Sorry for taking so long to update, but I was being weighed down with essays, book reports, and homework from my school, which is where I get my inspiration to write about the Experiment House (hahaha, just joking). Well enough about my life and onto Chapter 2: The Long Walk Home.**

Chapter 2: The Long Walk Home

It was 6:00 in the morning and Jill was walking to school, her eyes were half closed, and all she wanted to do was go back home, climb up the steps to her bedroom, and curl up in her nice warm bed.

Unfortunately she still had one more day of classes left at the Experiment House. At least after that day she would be done with the Experiment House completely and onto high school, which would be a proper boarding school, unlike the Experiment House.

Most of Jill's classmates would be able to overlook the injustice of having to wake up at 6:00 in the morning and look forward to the fact that summer vacation would be there the next day and they would be able to sleep in.

Jill knew that her vacation would consist of waking up early to help her mother before she had to go to work, babysitting Lily whiles her mother was gone, and helping her mother run the house in other ways.

Jill was mature for her age. Her maturity had been gained from having to deal with her parents' divorce. Usually Jill was proud about how sensible and mature she was, but sometimes having to be so sensible and mature, and having to grow up so fast wasn't so great.

The sun was not even up and Jill had to button her sweater all the way up to keep warm. She hated the Experiment House's early hours of school. Jill thought that the principal had to believe that old saying that went like, 'early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise', or something like that.

'Only we don't get early to bed with the piles of homework they give us.' Jill thought cynically to herself as she adjusted the strap of her heavy, book-filled, book bag. She was always cranky at 6:00 in the morning.

Jill looked at Lily who was skipping ahead of her in a mood that was disgustingly happy for so early in the morning.

Lily also attended the Experiment House, but the school was not as much as nightmare for the younger students. They got out of school two hours earlier and had yet to start dealing with the bullies. Jill still feared the day that her sister would be old enough to deal with the horrors of the school. Perhaps she would be able to convince her mother to send Lily to a proper school, her father had always been the one who had wanted to send the girls to the Experiment House anyway…

Lily stopped skipping and waited for her sister to catch up with her so she could walk with her.

Are you going to see your boyfriend at school today?" Lily asked gaily. They were just approaching the gates to the school and were about to go their separate ways so Lily could go to the lower class part of the school and Jill could go to the upper classmen's part.

Jill gave Lily a suspicious look. "What boyfriend?" she asked.

"The one we saw at the dentist's office yesterday." Lily said just as merrily, as if her sister had just forgotten that she had a boyfriend.

"Eustace isn't my boyfriend." Jill said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked.

"I think I would know." Jill said a bit more sarcastically then she had intended too.

"Okay, if you say so." Lily said as if she did not entirely believe what Jill was saying. Jill loved Lily and she thought she was the best little sister a girl could have, but sometimes Lily could just be so infuriating without even trying.

"I'll see you at home." Jill said as she turned to go to the upperclassman's part of the school. The Experiment House was very strict about keeping the young students away from the older students claiming that the older students should be separated from all things childish and that they should learn to be more mature.

"So." A voice said from behind Jill.

Jill recognized that voice, dreaded that voice, and knew exactly who that voice belonged to, Adela Pennyfather. Sure enough, when Jill turned around she was face to face with Adela and Edith Jackle. She seriously wondered if the two had nothing better to do but bully her, then again they had gone out of their way to pick on her specifically ever since Aslan, the mystical lion of Narnia, had chased them.

"I did not know that Scrubb was your boyfriend." Adela said with a mean glint in her eyes that only suggested trouble.

"He is _not_ my boyfriend." Jill said. "You know that."

"We know that Pole, but that doesn't mean the whole school knows." Edith said.

"And it wont be so hard to make them think that he is." Adela added.

Jill was fed up.

"Why are you two always trying to make my life so difficult!" she exclaimed. "It's hard enough with school and my sister and my mother and dumb absentee father without you two!" she yelled.

"Well, well, someone got out of the wrong side of the bed today." Edith said, Adela and her both totally uneffected by Jill's outburst. Sometimes Jill wondered who was more heartless these girls or the evil queen she and Eustace had had to defeat when they had gone to Narnia.

"We were only thinking of going through with our little plan, but thanks to your little outburst now we're positive we're going to do it." Adela said. "See you later Pole." she said in a fake happy voice as her and Edith walked off to their first class of the day.

* * *

It was midday and Jill was in history class. You would have thought with all the interesting things that happened in the past history class would be more exciting, but their teacher had the kind of voice that made you want to put your head down on your desk and fall asleep. 

Jill was sitting next Eleanor, who was her best friend in her school. Some of the other students who were in that class with her were Eustace Scrubb, Edith Jackle, and Adela Pennyfather. Eleanor was gazing out the window with her head in her palm, obviously daydreaming. Jill glanced o the back of the class and saw that Eustace was doodling in his notebook. It seemed that everyone in the class was just as bored as she was.

Jill returned her gaze to the teacher, Mr. Rhodes, and tried her best to give the impression that she was paying attention. It was just so hard knowing that in a few hours she would be out of the school for good.

Jill felt as if she was being watched and turned around in her seat to see Adela and Edith whispering to each other and smiling at her maliciously. She also saw them whispering to other students in the class and after that the students would turn to look at Jill as well, very suspicious. Before Jill could even wonder what was going on a girl from a lower grade knocked on the door and came in. "Mr. Rhodes the principal wants to see you." she said in a small voice.

Mr. Rhodes sighed. "Very well." he said. "You are to all open up your textbooks and read the last chapter silently and don't think just because I am not in the room you are not being watched." he said before leaving.

As soon as the door was closed everyone in the room burst out in whispers, despite the teacher's cryptic threat. "What's going on?" Jill asked Eleanor.

"Is it true?" Eleanor asked in a hushed voice.

"Is what true?" Jill whispered, completely confused.

"That you and Eustace are, you know, dating?" Eleanor asked again. It was a rare thing for anyone to be dating at the Experiment House, everyone pretty much went their own way with a few friends, and tried to keep out of the way of the bullies. The school's motto was 'Watch your back', well in actuality the school motto was, 'Spread wisdom, light, and peace into the world', but the first one was the one that the students really lived by.

"What? _No_." Jill said. 'Not _this_ again.' she thought to herself.

Jill looked around the room and saw everyone still whispering, occasionally stealing glances at her or Eustace. She looked back at Eustace, who had a blank look on his face, obviously not having a clue as to what was going on.

Jill had had enough. She slammed her palm on her desk and stood up, silencing everyone in the room. "Look, I know what you all are saying so you don't have to go whispering on about it." she said angrily walking up to the front of the room so she could address the whole class. "Just so you know, it's all a lie, made up by Jackle and Pennyfather." she said pointing to the back of room at Adela and Edith. "I am not nor have I ever been dating Scrubb, so you can all stop with this whole thing, and I really think-"

"Ms. Pole, it would be best if you returned to your seat and got on with your reading." a cold angry voice said. Jill turned to the door to see Mr. Rhodes standing in the doorway looking rather annoyed.

Jill embarrassedly walked back to her desk, sat down, opened her book and sunk into her seat.

* * *

"I still cannot believe that happened." Jill said as she and Eleanor walked out of the school, speaking of what had just occurred in history class. 

"It's not that bad." Eleanor comforted her. "At least it's the last day so you won't have to worry about people talking about it and teasing you for weeks." she said.

"I guess you're right." Jill said.

"I'll see you later." Eleanor said. She and Jill lived in different neighborhoods. "You have to come over sometime in the summer, or I can come to your house, then we can go the park or something."

"Right." Jill said before Eleanor turned the corner.

"Hey Pole!" Jill turned around to see Eustace walking towards her. She tried to remain calm, having no idea how this conversation would go.

"We live in the same direction, mind if I walk home with you?" Eustace asked.

"Sure, it's fine with me." Jill said.

"So that was an interesting history class." Eustace said.

"I would not use the word _interesting_ to describe it." Said Jill "More like, completely horrid."

"So Pole, would it be so horrible to have me as a boyfriend?" Eustace asked.

Jill blushed. "Well, I-I, I didn't mean-"

"Just kidding Pole, no need to get all flustered." Eustace said.

"I was _not_ flustered." Jill said angrily. "I was just trying to figure out the nicest way to inform you that you would make a perfectly _horrible_ boyfriend." She retorted, and so the two of them settled back into their usual form of friendship, which entailed a lot of arguing and teasing. It was not the best way two go about their feelings for one another but it did set up a sort of shield for the both of them that made their relationship so much easier then being earnest about their feelings.

Eustace smiled. "Well this is my turn, see you later." he said.

'Later?' Jill thought to herself. 'What did he mean by later? He could not have meant at school, so maybe he meant he wanted so see me over the holiday-no now I'm being ridiculous people say that all the time.' Jill said to herself as she continued to walk home.

* * *

The sun had set on Jill's street and the only brightness that shone out into the darkness of the night was the light that came from within the illuminated windows of the houses. 

They had just had dinner in the Pole house and Jill and Lily were dutifully helping Mrs. Pole with the dishes, Mrs. Pole washing, Jill drying, and Lily putting the plates, glasses, and silverware in the cupboards and drawers.

"I fell like I never get to talk to you girls anymore." Mrs. Pole said. "So what's going on in your lives?"

"Nothing." Jill said monotonously, drying a plate and putting down on top off the ones she had previously dried. Jill never really liked to give her mother much information on her personal life, but she was fourteen-years-old, who could blame her?

"We learned how to divide in class today." Lily said proudly as she stood on her toes to put a glass on a particularly high up shelf.

"That's nice Lillian." Mrs. Pole said.

"What about you Jill, I'm sure there is something more than 'nothing' going on in your life." Mrs. Pole said.

"Like your _boyfriend_." Lily interjected.

"I don't have a boyfriend Lily." Jill told her little sister.

"Yes you do." Lily insisted.

"No I _don't_ Lily, I think I would know." Jill said starting to get a bit annoyed.

"But we saw him at the dentist office." Lily argued. "And I saw you walking home from school today with him from my bedroom window when I was playing with my doll."

"Boyfriend?" Mrs. Pole said thoroughly interested. "Jill I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

"I don't mum, _Lily_-" she said quickly, pausing to give her little sister a look, "was mistaken."

"Now don't be shy Jill, it is perfectly alright for a girl your age to have a boyfriend." Mrs. Pole said. "Of course, I did not have a boyfriend until I was in high school-"

"Mum honestly, he is not my boyfriend." Jill told her mother again. "We are just friends. We met one day when-" Jill paused. "When were paired up together for a group project in class." She finished knowing she could not possibly tell her mother and sister of the magical land that Eustace had introduced her to, or of the dangerous and exciting adventure that the two of them had embarked on together with their trusty friend Puddleglum, the marshwiggle.

Jill knew that they would have never believed her anyways, well, maybe Lily would have since she was young and naïve, but her mother would have probably shipped her off to an asylum if she started going on about talking animals and centaurs and mystical lions. Even she sometimes had a problem believing that the adventure had happened and she had not just dreamed it. The whole thing made her sad sometimes. Sometimes she wished she could see Narnia just one more time.

There was Eustace of course, though they had not talked about it, but the special look that he gave her whenever they met in the hall or were in the same class made her remember that they had their own little secret between the two of them that could never be told.

"Don't believe her mum, she is just saying that because she's _shy_." Lily said.

"We should invite him over for dinner." Mrs. Pole said thoughtfully.

"_Mum_, he is _not_ my boyfriend." Jill insisted. "Lily thinks every boy she sees me talking to is my boyfriend."

Mrs. Pole thought about it. "You're right dear she said finally. "But this is just more proof of how I never get to see you two anymore. I have been so preoccupied with other things that I did not even know if my own teenage daughter had a boyfriend or not."

"We know you're busy." Jill said.

"That's no excuse." Mrs. Pole said. "Tomorrow I have the day off, why don't the three of us go on a picnic in the park?"

"A picnic?" Lily asked happily. "We haven't been on a picnic since Daddy went away!"

Jill saw the sad look quickly pass through her mother's eyes. Lily didn't know how much it her mother whenever one of the girls mentioned their father. Jill tried to talk about him as little as possible, but Lily just didn't know.

"Well we're going on one now Lily, and it is going to be more fun then any other picninc we've been on." Jill said hastily changing the subject earning an appreciative look from her mother.

Jill went back to drying off a plate, wondering what the next day would bring.

**

* * *

And that the end of Chapter 2, hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner then this one was. **

**KatRules**


	3. Chapter 3: Saturday in the Park

**Chapter 3: Saturday In the Park**

It was Saturday morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the flowers were blooming colorfully. It was the perfect day to have a picnic, which was exactly what Jill and her family were doing. They had unfolded their picnic blanket in the shade and set up for an afternoon of fun.

Despite Mrs. Pole and Jill's attempts to make the day as fun as possible it seemed there was no cheering Lily up. Jill suspected she knew what was wrong. Lily had mentioned the night before that they had not been on a picnic since their father had left. Although Lily had said it as if she were enthusiastic about the trip, Jill was sure her little sister had been putting on an act. Lily had been closest to their father. Before the divorce Lily had followed him around everywhere and he had called her his little princess.

Suddenly Jill got an idea of how to cheer her little sister up. "Come on Lily, let's go to the old tire swing." she said grabbing her little sister's hand before running to a large, old oak tree. On one of the branches was a swing made with an old tire and some rope. Jill remembered helping her sister make the swing years ago. When their parents had been fighting they would run out of the house and to the park and spend ours swinging on it together until they forgot about whatever argument their parents had gotten into that time. Jill had outgrown the old swing now, but still, it was something that belonged to just the two of them.

Lily sat on the swing and Jill gave her a push sending her high into the clear blue sky, and as Jill had predicted Lily forgot her troubles and giggled as the swing to her higher and higher. Jill suddenly found herself missing the days when she was Lily's age and the simplest things could make her happy.

Jill was pulled out of her musings when she heard her mother calling her name. Jill left Lily swinging merrily and returned to the site of their picnic.

Jill was surprised to see none other than Eustace Scrubb standing there with his parents. Jill thought it was odd how they kept on meeting each other in random places. Then she berated herself 'The dentist's office and the park are hardly 'random places'.' She thought to herself. 'It's not as if us running into each other is fate or anything, like those ridiculous romance novels. It is not as if there is anything slightly romantic about my relationship with Eustace. The two of us are just friends. Close friends'

"Look Jill it's the Scrubbs." Mrs. Pole said. "Don't you and Eustace go to the same school?" Mrs. Pole asked Jill.

"Yes." Jill said pithily.

"Funny us all meeting here." Mrs. Scrubb. "So, what are your views on smoking?" she asked Jill's mum, in a way that made it clear to Jill and Eustace that the adults would be talking for a long time and they would just have to go of and entertain themselves.

* * *

"If I didn't know any better I would say you were following me." Jill teased Eustace as they walked away from their parents who were deep in conversation that did not involve their children. Adults usually did not talk to children and other adults at the same time. It was as if when they talked to children they would switch gears, until another adult came along, because other adults were _really_ who they wanted to be talking to, and then the child should just have the sense to shut it and stay out grown up's business.

"As if I don't have more important things to do." Eustace joked. "Actually Alberta dragged me out here. She is absolutely obsessed with us getting fresh air, that's why the windows in our house are _always_ open."

"Eustace!" Lily called excitedly when she saw him before running up to him and giving him a big hug.

Jill couldn't help but laugh at Eustace's surprised expression. "She grows attached to people easily." she told him.

"I'm afraid Harold and Alberta are going to have your mother tied up for awhile." Eustace said apologetically to Jill. "They can talk forever, those two. They just love to get peoples opinions about vegetarianism and non-smoking, or they love _tell_ other people about their own opinions I should say."

"Who are Harold and Alberta?" Lily asked her brow furrowed in confusion.

"They're his _parents_ Lily." Jill explained gently.

"Well then why do you call them by their _names_?" Lily asked. "Shouldn't you call them mum or dad? Or mother and father? Or even mama and papa? No one I know calls their parents by their _names_."

"Not everyone does the same thing Lily." Jill said gently, but in a firm way so that Lily knew she was asking to many questions.

Jill had deciphered enough of her conversations with Eustace to make out that he was no especially close to his parents, but that was all she could figure out and she thought she might be able to find out more over time.

Jill was half right. Eustace had gotten along with his parents well enough at first, but that was way back when he had never even been to Narnia and had, had quite an unattractive personality. Ever since he had changed his parents had not been so fond of him and thought him to be tiresome and rebellious.

"They're going to be talking forever." Lily whined looking over at her mother and Mrs. and Mr. Scrubb. "I'm bored." She said pouting.

"We can play a game." Eustace suggested.

"What kind of game?" Lily asked curiously.

"A make believe game." he told her.

Lily instantly brightened up. She had always had an overactive imagination. She spent hours upon hours in her room reenacting fairytales like Cinderella and Snow White with her dolls. She especially enjoyed it when she could actually convince Jill to play with her. Jill had never played with dolls herself when she was a child, seeing absolutely no point to it.

"I don't really-" Jill started to say.

"Like Cinderella?" Lily asked Eustace.

"Kind of, but this is our own story." Eustace said. "It takes place in a magical world, with unicorns and dragons...right Jill?"

"...Oh, oh yeah." Jill said deciding to go along since it pleased Lily so much. "And talking animals and giants."

"It sounds lovely." Lily said dreamily.

"It is." Eustace assured her. "Now in our country we have a problem." He told Lily.

"How can there be a problem in such a perfect land?" Lily asked innocently.

"Well it would be a rather boring land if everything in it was perfect wouldn't it?" Eustace asked her.

Lily thought for a minute of two. "I guess so." She said after awhile.

Eustace continued. "The problem is that the princess has been captured, and now the two heroes need to rescue her. How about you being the princess Lily?"

"No."

"Why not?" Eustace asked. He had been pretty sure that little girls liked pretending to be princesses.

"I want to be one of the heroes." Lily said.

"Alright." Eustace said. "Then Jill will be the princess."

"What?" Jill asked. So far she had been standing back watching her sister and Eustace create their little game, she had never been one for playing make believe.

"You- be- the- prin- cess." Eustace repeated slowly as if Jill was stupid.

"Well why don't _you_ be the princess Scrubb?" Jill retorted a bit irritated.

Lily laughed. "Eustace in a dress." She giggled out.

"Alright what do I have to do?" Jill said giving in.

"Just sit over there by that tree and act captured." Eustace ordered.

Jill sighed, went by the tree Eustace had pointed out and sat down. "Help…help." She said in monotone voice.

"_Jill_ you've been _captured_. You have to be more scared than _that_." Lily said.

"Yes, scared like giants want to eat you or you're being attacked by a serpent." Eustace said looking at her pointedly.

Jill sighed again, knowing that they weren't going to relent. "Help! Help!" she called a little more frantically.

"Oh no, we have to save her." Eustace said dramatically to Lily.

"Yes, but we have to fight that…huge…five headed…dog." Lily said after thinking for a bit.

Eustace chuckled. "A five headed dog? All right, than, we need our swords." He said drawing out an imaginary sword.

"Right!" Lily agreed enthusiastically copying Eustace's act to get a fake sword. Lily pretended to slash the imaginary monster, but then fell down to her knees. "Oh no, I killed the monster, but it bit me before it died!" she cried. "Go on and save the princess without me." She said before falling from her knees and laying face down on the grass dramatically.

"Right." Eustace agreed before going over to Jill.

"Now that you've saved her you gotta kiss her." Lily told Eustace from where she laid "dead".

Jill tried not to blush. "He doesn't have to _kiss_ me Lily." She told her sister.

"Yes he does." Lily said. "Every time the hero rescues the princess she kisses him as a reward." Lily said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Alright, alright." Jill said and before she knew what she was really doing she quickly gave Eustace a peck on the cheek.

"Are you happy now?" she asked Lily trying to act cross and hoping her face wasn't as red as a tomato.

"Yes I am." Lily said.

* * *

"That one looks like a tree." Eustace said pointing at a fluffy white cloud.

The game of make believe had ended a while ago and now Lily was sound asleep under the shade of the oak tree that held the tire swing. Jill and Eustace, for lack of anything better to do, were lying down in the soft, green grass and looking at the clouds. Luckily Eustace had not made a big deal out of the kiss, brushing it off as "part of the game".

"That one looks like a five headed dog." Jill said pointing at another cloud.

Eustace laughed. "Did you ever believe in any of that stuff when we you were Lily's age?" he asked Jill.

"Well no. I didn't really have much time to play make believe when I was young." Jill admitted. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she could trust Eustace with her most personal secrets. "My Mum and Dad were always fighting, so I was pretty in touch with reality."

"Oh." Eustace said.

"And what about you?" Jill asked him.

"What about me?" Eustace asked.

"Did _you_ ever believe in all that magical stuff when you were a kid?"

Eustace laughed again. "You know I never had much of an imagination before I went to Narnia Jill."

"Right, I forgot." Jill said.

The two settled into a comfortable silence as they just lay there, gazing at the sky.

"Eustace it's time to go!" Mrs. Scrubb's voice called, breaking into their dreamy state.

Jill and Eustace stood up. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go." Eustace said awkwardly. "…Bye."

"Bye." Jill said.

Eustace left to meet up with his parents so they could go home.

Jill looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark and she knew that she would be going home soon too.

Sure enough Mrs. Pole called to her at that moment. "Jill it's time to go home, and wake up your sister!"

Jill went to wake up Lily. She had _not_ been excited about spending her day at the park, but for some reason once Eustace had shown up she had not wanted the day to end.

**

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And after months the third chapter is finally up. I hope this chapter isn't as bad as I think it is. Please review.**

**Kat Rules**


	4. Chapter 4: The Invitation

**Chapter Four: A Conversation and an Invitation**

It was a normal day in the Pole household. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon and nothing to interesting had happened that day.

Mrs. Pole had gone out to the grocery store half an hour ago to pick up some things and had asked Jill to watch Lily, promising her that she'd be back in a few minutes. Jill had finished her chores for the day and was reading in the kitchen. All was quiet until…

"Hey, Jill!" Lily shouted, even though there was really no need for her to shout since she was standing right next to her sister's ear.

"…Yes, Lily." Jill said through clenched teeth trying as hard as she could not to sound as annoyed as she felt. Jill loved her little sister, but no matter how close siblings are they get on each others nerves every now and again, and that was exactly what Lily was doing that day.

"Do you want to watch me hula-hoop again?" she asked excitedly. "I've gotten even better since the last time you saw me."

This would be about the fiftieth time Jill watched her sister hula-hoop. Lily had gotten the toy a few days ago and had been playing with it ever since, nonstop, trying to get to a higher number every time. Jill was just a few moments away from steeling the hula-hoop in the middle of the night and burying it in the backyard.

"…Sure." Jill said, her teeth still clenched and the annoyance still in her voice, though Lily didn't notice her sister's irritation and continued.

Lily readied the hula-hoop around her hips. "One…two…three…four…five." She counted.

Jill tuned out Lily's voice with her own thoughts. 'I wonder what Eustace is doing now. I wonder if he's as board as I am.'

"Eleven…twelve…thirteen…fourteen."

'I wonder I _he's_ wondering about what I'm doing right now.' Jill thought. "No, now I'm just being stupid. Just because I spend half of my time thinking about him doesn't mean that he does the same.'

"Twenty-nine…thirty…thirty-one…thirty-two."

'But maybe he thinks about me sometimes, at least.' Jill thought. 'Not that I care or anything.'

"Did you see that Jill!" Lily exclaimed excitedly. "I got all the way to thirty-nine this time!"

"Oh." Jill said, her sister's words snapping her out of her musings. "That's really great Lily…great job."

"I'm going to go practice some more." Lily said taking her hula-hoop and heading to the living room.

* * *

"Girls, I'm back." Mrs. Pole called out as she walked into the back door that was in the kitchen with an arm full of brown grocery bags. "Hello Jill." She said seeing her daughter sitting at the table.

"Hello mum." Jill said getting up from her chair to help her mother with the heavy grocery bags.

"So how did things go while I was gone?" she asked. "No major disasters, I hope."

"Well, not exactly, but I think if I see Lily hula-hoop one more time I'll scream." Jill said. "May I please take that hula-hoop and set it on fire?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not, but thank you for asking nicely." Mrs. Pole said trying not to look amused, which she was sure would just further annoy Jill. "Look, I'm back now, so why don't you go outside and get some fresh air or something? The fresh air will help to relax you."

Jill nodded. "Alright, I'll be in the front yard." She picked up her book and went through the living room, where Lily was busily practicing her hula-hoop…ing, to the front door.

* * *

Jill walked out through her grassy front yard to the curb and sat down and continued to read her book.

After a while Jill realized she'd been reading the same sentence over and over again. She had been reading the book all day and she was starting to get tired of it. Not that there was anything else to do.

Everyone else was doing something. Eleanor's parents had taken her to the beach for a weak, and there was no doing anything with Lily whiles she was on this hula-hoop craze. Then there was Eustace, but she couldn't ask him to do something with her. Well she could, they were friends and all, but it was something she'd never done before, and she wasn't sure about how to start.

So far Jill's whole summer had been the same since the day school had closed, boring.

It was times like this that Jill started to miss Narnia. There was never a dull moment there. There were magical breathtaking moments, amazing unbelievable moments, and completely terrifyingly moments, but there were certainly never any dull moments.

"Hello Jill." A voice said braking through Jill's reveries.

Jill put her book down on her knees and looked up to see none other then Eustace Scrubb walking towards her.

'Again?' Jill thought. 'This is starting to get kind of weird. But what is he doing here in _my_ neighborhood.'

"Hello Eustace." Jill said. "Funny running into you…again."

."Actually it's no coincidence this time. I was looking for you." Eustace said sitting down on the curb next to her.

"Really?" Jill asked. "What for?"

"I was sitting at home and I was bored so I thought 'I wonder what Jill is doing, and if she's bored too.', and then I figured if you _were_ than we might as well be bored together."

"Well I'm not bored." Jill protested even though she really was. "I'm actually really very interested in my book."

"You are?" Eustace asked.

"Yes I am." Jill insisted holding the book back up and continuing to read.

"Well what book is that?" Eustace asked grabbing the book out of her hand casually.

"Hey!" Jill protested.

"The Phantastes, by George MacDonald." Eustace read off the cover. "Oh come on, it's _summer_. You can't possibly tell me that you are having fun _reading_ in the summer."

"Well maybe you ought to try reading some more, then you might do better in English next term." Jill teased.

"You didn't do that much better than me." Eustace argued. "And I didn't have to read as much as you."

"Fine, then." Jill said putting her book down once again. "What do _you_ consider fun?"

Eustace took a second to think. "I don't know. Soccer, walking through the woods in the park,"

"I don't really see the fun in any of that." Jill argued.

"You don't?" Eustace asked.

"That's what I said." Jill told him.

"You surprise me Jill." Eustace said. "You've been to Narnia, and you still have practically no imagination."

"Just because I've found out there's some magical world out there, doesn't mean I'm going to give up common sense." Jill defended herself.

"You do realize that, that makes absolutely no sense at all." Eustace told her.

"Your idea of fun is what makes no sense." Jill insisted.

"Well than why don't I show you?" Eustace proposed.

"And how are you going to do that?" Jill asked.

"Tomorrow, meet me at the park and I'll show you." Eustace insisted.

Jill thought about it. "…Okay, but it'll only prove that I'm right"

"We'll see." Eustace said. He looked at his watch. "I better get going. Alberta likes me home before it gets dark.." he explained.

Jill nodded. "Bye."

"Bye." Eustace said as he walked away.

Jill stood up and started into her house. Now she had to tell her mother she was going tonight, and she knew she would have to spend the night telling Lily that it was _not_ a date.

**

* * *

And that's the fourth chapter. I've already got a couple of the next to chapters planned out so they'll probably be up soon.**

**Riley 35(new pen name)**


	5. Chapter 5: The Almost Adventure

**Chapter Five: The Semi-Adventure**

Jill arrived in the park five minutes after the time that she was supposed to meet Eustace. She had been careful not to arrive right on time. 'I don't want to look overeager.' She thought. 'Because I'm _not_.' She assured herself.

She spotted him sitting on a large rock, waiting. He almost looked like a nervous date, fidgeting a lot and checking his watch every few second, but Jill knew Eustace better than that and knew he was an impatient kind of person.

"Hello Eustace." Jill said walking up to him

"Hello Jill." Eustace said standing up.

"…So." Jill said after an uncomfortable moment of silence. The silence was explainable, because it was an odd situation. A boy and girl meeting out of school could mostly be described at a date, as Lily had argued her point the night before, but neither of them were going to call it that, of course. "Exactly what do you do with this whole 'exploring the woods' thing?" Jill asked.

Eustace shrugged. "Well, we're just going to walk around." he said. "The fresh forest air is, I don't know, invigorating. And you never know what we might discover."

* * *

"Eustace, we've been walking for half an hour." Jill said. "Do you even know where we're going?" she asked. She was starting to get tired of walking with no destination and the summer heat was starting to intensify. 

"Yes, I do." Eustace said. "We're going there." he said pointing.

Jill looked up to see that he was pointing to a lake. The sun was in just the right position in the sky that is sent it's rays on to the lake, so when you gazed across the lake's water it sparkled like it was made out of millions of little crystals.

"It's so pretty." Jill said as she stepped closer.

"I told you I knew where we were going." Eustace said.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something drifting in the water. "Hey look, there's something floating in the lake over there." She told Eustace.

"It looks like a boat." Eustace said as they walked over to it.

"An empty lake, and an abandoned boat." Eustace said. "This is the perfect chance for adventure." He finished up dramatically.

"You are such an actor." Jill said. She looked at the boat. It was a rowboat, the kind with the long paddles. "Eustace, we can't take this boat, I mean we don't even know who it belongs to." Jill said.

"It looks like it hasn't been used for years." Eustace reasoned as he dusted off the cobwebs.

Jill put one foot in the boat and stepped down lightly. "Maybe there's a reason it hasn't been used in so long." She said. "Maybe it's dangerous or something." She said stepping out.

"It's not dangerous." Eustace said.

"How can you be so sure?" Jill asked.

"I know a bit about boats and ships and the lot." Eustace said.

Jill sighed an exasperated sigh at Eustace's antics. "You spent a few months on the Dawn Treader Eustace." She told him. "That doesn't exactly make you Captain Ahab."

"Who?" Eustace asked.

"Captain Ahab, from Moby-Dick. You know the book about the great white whale? Herman Melville" she asked. She looked at his clueless face. "Honestly Eustace, pick up a book."

"Well I would rather be outside looking for adventure, rather than being inside reading about someone else's adventures." Eustace said.

"I suppose that's not such a bad philosophy." Jill decided.

"See, sometimes I can make sense." Eustace told her.

"Sometimes." Jill agreed. She looked back at the boat. "But it still doesn't seem like a good idea to me."

"Come on Jill, take a risk." Eustace said getting into the boat and picking up the oars.

'A boat ride with Eustace.' Jill thought. 'This can either end up being really good or a disaster.' For some reason she had a feeling it would be the latter. 'What the heck.' She thought.' "I can't believe I'm actually going to do this." She said getting into the boatcarefully so her weight would not make it capsize.

* * *

They ended up on the other side of lake, where it looked to mainly wildlife, no buildings or human life for miles. 

"Did you know this place was here?" Eustace asked when they had gotten off the boat.

"No." Jill said looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. "But it's nice, just a quiet place to sit and think." She said sitting down on a log.

Eustace smiled, happy he'd made her happy.

"You know this is almost like a real adventure." She said to Eustace only to realize he was nowhere in site.

"Hey Jill, look at this!" she heard him call.

She followed the sound of his voice and found what he was looking at. "It's a cave." Jill said peering inside.

"Let's check it out." Eustace said, ready for anything, as usual.

"You certainly don't see anything like this in the city." Jill said following him inside.

"Yeah." Eustace agreed.

"Hey, did you hear something?" Jill asked.

"Like what?" Eustace asked.

"I don't know, like something...growling." Jill said.

"It was probably just your imagination." Eustace assured her, still walking down deeper into the cave.

Jill followed him, still doubtful. There was a louder growling.

"You can't tell me you didn't hear that." Jill whispered.

"It…can't be anything to bad." Eustace said trying not to panic.

There was no denying that there was something in the cave with them when they saw a shaggy brown creature rear it's head and stalk through the cave.

They both stopped and stood completely still. Eustace turned to Jill. "…I. Think. It's. A. Bear." He said.

The bear had not seen them yet, but it was only a few moments until it did.

"What do we do now?" Jill whispered to Eustace.

"…Run." Eustace said.

And they did, all the way back to the boat.

"I should have known better." Eustace said paddling as fast as he could. "The last time I went into a cave I got turned into a dragon."

* * *

"Which way is back?" Jill asked when the reached the other side of the lake again. 

"Let's see." Eustace said looking around. "I think we go this way..." he said not sounding to sure of himself. "Or maybe..."

"Oh, just follow me." Jill said walking off.

Eustace shrugged and walked after her.

Before he knew it they were out of the forest and back in the park.

"How'd you do that?" Eustace asked.

"What?" Jill asked not knowing what he was talking about.

"Find the way out of the woods so easily?" he elaborated.

"Oh, I was in the Girl Guides for seven years." Jill said offhandedly.

"You're full of surprises Jill." Eustace said.

"Yes, and you're pretty predictable with your antics." Jill replied.

"_Antics?"_ Eustace asked incredulously. It's called having a sense adventure." Eustace said.

"I hate to remind you of this, but you and your horrid sense of adventure was exactly what almost got us both eaten for dinner by a bear." Jill said.

"Well we have faced worse." Eustace reminded her.

"Yes, we _have_ faced worse." Jill agreed.

"And you have to admit, it was kind of fun." Eustace.

Jill laughed. "Yeah, it _was_ kind of fun. Just a little bit." She said hating to have too agree with him again.

"So I was right!" Eustace exclaimed.

"What are you going on about?" Jill asked.

"You know." Eustace said. "Yesterday I said you didn't know what fun was, and you said neither did I, and then I said I'd show you. And you just admitted yourself that it was fun."

"I said it was kind of fun." Jill said.

"Yes, but the word fun was still in there." Eustace insisted."So you have to admit I was right."

"I think I'll justgo home instead." Jill said.

"Wait you have to admit it, officially." Eustace insisted again.

"Good0bye Eustace." Jill said walking away. It had been a very interesting non-date.

**

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And there's chapter five, up in record timing (for me anyway). I hope it's better than I think it is.** Chapter Six: The Party Invitation **will be up pretty soon.**

**Riley 35 **


	6. Chapter 6: The Party Invitation

**Chapter Six: The Party Invitation**

It was eight o'clock in the morning and Jill had just gotten downstairs, fresh and ready for a new day.

"Good morning Mum." Jill said to her mother who was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee from a mug, and going through the mail.

"Good morning Jill." Mrs. Pole said putting down the letter that she had been reading. "So what are you going to do today?" she asked.

"Eleanor invited me to her house today." Jill told her as she took a glass from the cupboard and than opened the refrigerator to get some milk. "Unless you need me to watch Lily?" she offered.

"That's alright." Mrs. Pole said. "I just have a few errands to do today, and I promised Lily she could come with me."

As if her mother mentioning her name had summoned her, Lily came into the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas. "I had a bad dream." She complained sitting down in at the table.

"Oh, that's too bad." Mrs. Pole said sympathetically. "What about?" she asked.

"I was running through the woods and being chased by a big monster." Lily told her.

"Sounds like an experience that I've had recently." Jill said sitting down at the table.

"Oh really?" Mrs. Pole said raising an eyebrow at her older daughter. "And what was that?"

"Oh, Eustace and I just passed by that forest behind the park yesterday." Jill said not wanting to tell her worrisome mother that a bear had almost chased her. She knew how her mother could be and she didn't want her mother to blame Eustace for the whole incident.

"Yeah, when they were on their _date_." Lily said in a singsong voice, her nightmare seemingly forgotten.

Jill sighed. "I told you Lily, it was not a date." She told her.

"Was too." Lily said.

"Was not." Jill could not help replying somewhat childishly.

"Was too." Lily said again.

Jill sighed, yet again. "Mum." She said, a one-word plea for her to call Lily off.

"Lily, stop bothering your sister." Mrs. Pole said firmly. "It's not her fault she's in denial." Jill looked at her mother, mouth open in indignation and surprise, not knowing how to reply.

"_Mum_-" she started to say heatedly.

"Calm down Jill, I was just teasing." Mrs. Pole said with a smile on her face. It had been sometime since she was a teenager herself and it always amused her how worked up Jill got about things.

Jill decided not to reply and took a long sip of her milk.

Mrs. Pole reached for a letter in a pile and looked it over, this one, thankfully, didn't look like a bill. "My boss, Mr. Shipman is having a party the Saturday after next." She told her daughters.

Jill noticed that it was a very nice looking invitation, the card was cream colored and the letters were written in golden and were in an elegant cursive style.

"It looks like it's going to be a very fancy party." Mrs. Pole said continuing to read. "It's being held at the grand ballroom down at the Shelters Hotel."

"Can I go?" Lily asked excitedly. A party in a ballroom sounded just like a fairytale to her. She could already imagine herself in a pretty pink dress being driven to the ball in a coach pulled by beautiful snowy white horses.

"I'm afraid you're to young to be out that late, honey." Mrs. Pole told her, pushing the daydream right out of her head.

"I can watch Lily that night." Jill offered.

"No, you have to come to the party with me." Mrs. Pole told her.

"Why do I _have_ to come?" Jill asked.

"You know how hard it is for a single woman to get and keep a job." Mrs. Pole told her. "Mr. Shipman already cuts more slack for everyone else than he does for me. So if he meets one of my charming daughters he might not go so hard on me." She saw Lily was listening and made it easier for her. "Because bosses go easier on people with families."

"So your boss will be nicer to you just because you've got kids?" Lily asked.

Mrs. Pole nodded.

"This party goes form seven o'clock to midnight." Jill said looking at the invitation. "Lily can't stay home alone so late. I guess I'll just have to stay and watch her." Jill said.

"Oh, you're not getting of the hook that easily." Mrs. Pole said. "Lily can stay at Grandmother's house." She said.

"I love grandmother." Lily exclaimed excitedly. "She always bakes me chocolate chip cookies and let's me stay up late."

Jill resisted the urge to give her sister and evil look, at being so excited when she would have to go to some boring business party.

Mrs. Pole looked at her watch. "We better get going." she said. "Lily go get out of those pajamas and get dressed so we can go."

"Okay." Lily said before running up the stairs to her room.

"I'm going to get going too." Jill said putting her glass in the sink.

"Be home before dark." Mrs. Pole said as Jill walked out the back door.

* * *

Eleanor and her brother and sisters had one of those plastic swimming pools that young children who were too small for real swimming pools used. All of them had long ago outgrown it, but Eleanor and Jill still liked to fill it up with cold water and sit in it so they had a place to talk where they could hide away from the summer heat. The swimming pool was pretty tall, so it still went over their heads, so they couldn't see anything outside of the pool.

"Did you hear about the party Mr. Shipman is throwing?" Eleanor asked Jill.

"Yes." Jill said. "Do your parents know him too?" She asked.

"Everyone knows him." Eleanor told her. "My father said he's some kind of major entrepreneur and anything he touches turns into gold. My parent's are letting me go, it'll be my first real party."

"My mum is making _me_ go." Jill said. "But I don't really want to."

"How can you not want to go?" Eleanor asked. "I'm excited. My mum's taking me to get a new dress and everything."

"Well, what are we going to do at the party, really?" Jill asked. "Think about it. We get new dresses that we'll wear for that _one_ occasion, and than when we'll get there everyone will be dancing. Except no one will ask us to dance, because we are just children, and none of the boys our age will dance with us because they'll be too afraid of looking like nerds."

"Oh, don't be such a downer Jill." Eleanor scolded her friend.

"I'm just being reasonable." Jill said.

"Well, I bet you some of those boys mothers will force them to dance with some girls." Eleanor said hopefully. "It's not very romantic, but it's a dance. And I can always count on my dad for a dance."

"Lucky you." Jill said.

"…Sorry." Eleanor said after a moment of silence.

"That's okay." Jill said.

"So...you haven't heard from your dad since he left?" Eleanor asked.

"Well, he _did_ send Lily and I those Christmas cards." Jill said. "So wherever he is I guess he hasn't completely forsaken."

"You know," Eleanor said, knowing when to change the subject, like any goof best friend. "Maybe your boyfriend will be at the party and he will dance with you."

"Eleanor, I told you, Eustace is _not_ my boyfriend." Jill said heatedly. "And I don't even know if he is going to be at the party."

"Ha." Eleanor said. "I said boyfriend, but I never said the name Eustace, did I?"

Jill tried hard not to blush. "I-well obviously you were talking about-"

"So when the word boyfriend is said Eustace immediately comes to your mind." Eleanor said. "I think-"

She didn't get a chance to say what she thought because she and Jill were both hit with a stream of water, causing them both to scream in surprise.

They both stood up to see that it was Eleanor's twelve-year-old brother and his friend, who had sprayed them with two squirt guns they had and were running away farther into the backyard.

Eleanor looked at Jill with a glint in her eye." This is war."

Jill nodded "Yeah." she agreed. Before she and Eleanor started off on what she knew would be an afternoon of getting back at the boys she had to wonder about a certain boy and whether or not he'd be at the party, because if he was she wouldn't mind dancing with him.

**

* * *

**

**And that was chapter six; I hope it was good even though it was Eustace free. The next chapter** Chapter Seven: Dress Shopping **will be up soon.**

**Riley 35**


	7. Chapter 7: Dress Shopping

**Chapter Seven: Dress Shopping**

Jill was sitting on the train with an empty seat on her left and her mother on her right. Lily had long ago fallen asleep in her mother's lap and Mrs. Pole was reading the novel that she had brought with her.

The reason they were on the train was so that they could get into town so Mrs. Pole and Jill could get some dresses for the Shipman's party, which was that weekend.

The Poles hardly went into town, except for special occasions like back to school shopping and special birthday dinners. The neighborhood's shopping district had a grocery store, a small clothing store, a doctor's office, and any other store they needed during the year. The town was filled with big shops, elegant boutiques, and fancy restaurants.

It took a three-hour train ride to get into town. To make sure they did not miss their train Mrs. Pole had come into Lily and Jill's room, roused the both of them from their slumber at seven o'clock in the morning and sent them to bathe and eat breakfast. She was ushering them out of the house and into the car by eight o'clock, and they had been on the train at nine.

The whole train ride had been a silent one. Lily had been out cold the moment they train started moving and Mrs. Pole was immersed in her novel. Jill didn't mind though, because she was much more content to watch the scenery role past outside of the train's window.

Jill heard Lily beginning to wake up. When she was fully awake she climbed over her mother's lap and sat next to Jill.

"Are we there yet?" she asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"We can't be there yet Lily, the trains still moving." Jill said gently.

Lily yawned. "Are we _almost_ there?" she asked hopefully.

Jill looked at her watch. It would be another hour before the train ride was over.

"Almost." she told Lily.

* * *

Jill was slumped on a seat outside of a store dressing room. Lily was sitting in a chair beside her, looking very irritable, like most nine-year-olds she hated long shopping trips and it didn't help much that she was the only one not getting a new dress. 

"Alright." Mrs. Pole's voice said from the dressing room. "How do I look?"

"You look great Mum." Jill told her. "Beautiful and graceful."

"I like it." Lily added unenthusiastically.

Mrs. Pole really did look stunning in the black strapless party dress she had found. Jill noticed she looked five years younger, and she certainly didn't look like anybody's mother.

"And at a reasonable price too." Mrs. Pole said looking at the tag.

They couldn't shop at any of those big, popular stores that everyone else went to. With Mrs. Pole being the only working one in the house they just couldn't afford it, Jill knew. She didn't mind though, and Lily was much to young to care.

Mrs. Pole changed back in the dressing room and then paid for the dress.

"Can we go to the candy store now?" Lily asked hopefully as they exited the store. She was tired from being dragged from this store to that store. "You said I could get some candy when we were done."

"Lily, we're not done yet, we still have to find a dress for Jill." Mrs. Pole told her.

Jill sat up. "Why don't you take her to the candy store now?" Jill suggested. "She could use a break."

Mrs. Pole raised an eyebrow at her oldest daughter. "And just where will you be whiles we're at the candy store?" she asked.

"Oh, I thought that maybe I could just walk around." Jill said trying to sound nonchalant. She was excited at the idea of getting away from her family and being able to walk through the town by herself like an adult. She'd seen most of the stores in town before, but they would seem so much more interesting when she felt independence.

Mrs. Pole smiled, seeing right through her daughter. "Alright, but meet us back in this store at three thirty."

Jill nodded "Alright-"

"Not, three forty or three thirty five." Mrs. Pole cut her off. "_Three thirty_. If you're not here I'm sending the police after you."

"_Alright_ mum." Jill said, exasperated.

"Come on Lily." Mrs. Pole said taking Lily's hand so they could cross the street, leaving Jill with half an hour of free time in town.

* * *

Jill was having a splendid time walking around the town by herself. She hadn't bothered going into any stores; she just liked to walk on the busy streets by herself. She was surrounded by hundreds of busy people hurrying this way and that way yet she felt calm and alone. 

She was about to turn the corner when something interesting in a store window caught her eye. There, standing in a tailor's shop across the street was Eustace Scrubb.

He was standing on a short stool, wearing a tuxedo that was obviously two big for him. He looked very uncomfortable as two women, his mother and the tailor, fussed over him.

Jill knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but she couldn't stop herself from crossing the street and creeping closer to the store to hear what they were saying.

"-need more pins." she heard the tailor say before she went into the back of the store.

"You can stay here by yourself whiles the lady fits you suit can't you?" She heard Mrs. Scrubb asked Eustace.

"Yes Alberta." Eustace replied shortly.

"Alright, I'll be back in an hour." she said before strolling out of the store.

Jill turned around quickly to avoid being seen and possibly recognized by Mrs. Scrubb as she exited the store. When she was sure she was gone Jill turned back to the store.

She frowned thinking of how her own mother had fussed over her before she had went off and comparing it to the way Mrs. Scrubb carelessly left her son alone in the shop. Sure her own mother could be a little forgetful sometimes, but it was strange to wonder what it would be like if she didn't care at all.

Jill shook it off. The tailor was still in the back room getting her pins. Jill entered the store, it seemed Eustace was the one who always appeared out of nowhere. It looked like it was her turn.

"That's a nice suit." Jill teased.

Eustace turned. "Jill." he said surprised. "Well what are you doing here?" he asked.

"That's a nice way to greet someone." Jill commented.

"Sorry." Eustace apologized. "I was just surprised to see you."

"I'm in town with my mum and sister." Jill said, answering his previous question. "What about you."

"My parents are dragging me to that big party everyone is going to next weekend." Eustace said. "I have to get a suit."

"Me too." Jill said. "...I mean...I have to get a dress...not a suit, of course." she stuttered.

"Right." Eustace said.

"Well we just got here, but we'll be gone in a short while, maybe we'll be on the same train." Eustace said.

Jill shook her head. "We haven't even began to look for my dress. We're going to have to catch the right o'clock train." Jill said.

"What, you need _three hours_ to find a dress?" Eustace asked looking incredulous "It only took me half an hour to get this suit."

"Buying a dress is a lot harder then buying a suit." Jill told him.

"And how is that?" Eustace asked.

"Well." Jill thought. "All boys have to do is make sure the suit fits. Girls have to make sure it's the right kind and the right color and-well you wouldn't understand." Jill said.

"Who cares what color it is?" Eustace said.

"Well you have to find the color that looks good on you." Jill said.

Eustace seemed to be deep in thought.

Jill looked at her watch. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "I have to get back and meet my mum or else she will call Scotland Yard or something."

"I think blue would look good on you." Eustace said finally.

"What?" Jill asked.

"You said that you had to find the right color," he reminded her. "For your dress. And I think blue's the right color for you." Eustace said looking very proud of himself.

Jill couldn't help bursting out laughing. "Is _that_ what you've been thinking so hard about?"

"Yes." Eustace said not finding it amusing at all. "You _said_, you had to have the right color."

Right." Jill said struggling not to laugh. "Thanks." She said.

"I _finally_ found my pins." A voice said coming from the back room. "Oh hello sweetheart." She said to Jill. "Are you picking something up, or do you need something to be fitted?"

Jill shook her head. "Oh, no." she said. "I was just looking around." She said before exiting the shop.

* * *

Another hour had gone by, and Jill still hadn't found a dress. 

Jill was looking around the town when she saw a shop that she hadn't been in yet.

Mrs. Pole had stopped to tie Lily's shoe.

"Mum, I'm going to go look in that store." Jill said.

"Alright, we're coming." Mrs. Pole said.

The store was small and empty. The bells on top of door trilled merrily when Jill entered and there was a lovely smell in the air,

"Hi." Jill greeted the woman at the counter. She looked to be in her seventies and she seemed to be the only one who worked there.

"Hello the women said kindly. "How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a dress for a party." Jill told her.

"Is it your first party." The woman asked.

Jill nodded. The woman smiled pleasantly and led her to the dress section and left her to look on her own. Then Jill saw it. It was perfect. It was an off the shoulder pale pink dress with a layered skirt. It was simple, but lovely and elegant.

She heard the store's bells ring again and looked to her mother and Lily walk in.

"Mum, look at this dress." Jill said showing it to her mother.

"It's pretty." Mrs. Pole commented taking it from Jill. "But look at the price." She said looking at the price tag. "I'm sorry Jill, it's much to expensive.

"That's an original, made it myself." The old women said. "But I could make you one just like it, for half the price."

"Really?" Jill asked.

"That's very kind of you." Mrs. Pole said.

The women nodded. "I remember my first big party." She said. "And searching for the perfect dress. And you could have it in any color you want." she said.

"Any color?" Jill asked.

The woman nodded.

Jill put a finger to her chin as she thought. The dress was perfect but it had one thing missing. "Could I have it in blue?" she asked.

**

* * *

And that was chapter seven, the eighth chapter will be **Chapter Eight: The Party**. Please R&R **. 

**Riley35**


	8. Chapter 8: The Party

**Chapter Eight: The Party**

It was Saturday, the day of the Shipman's party. It was also the Saturday the Jill had been dreading. She would have much rather stayed home and read a book or played some board game with Lily, but Lily had been picked up by their grandmother, and Mrs. Pole had insisted Jill go to the party.

Jill was wearing the dress she had bought the week before when she had gone to town. Her mother had borrowed her some shoes and had curled Jill's hair and styled it in some kind of up do. Jill couldn't help but look into every mirror she passed and grimace.

Part of the reason Jill didn't want to go was that she was afraid of what everyone would think of her. She always tried to act like nothing bothered her, but deep down she was really nervous about going to the party. What if no one wanted to dance with her? Or she tripped and made a fool out of herself? Or she said something wrong? Or- well she couldn't think of anything else, but anything could happen, and if she simply didn't go to the party at all than nothing could go wrong.

Mrs. Pole came downstairs to find Jill sitting on the living room couch looking less than enthusiastic.

"Don't look like that Jill." She said. "It will only be a few hours." She said.

"But why do _I_ have to go?" Jill asked.

Mrs. Pole sighed again. "I told you Jill. People don't think very highly of divorced women, but they like people with families, if Mr. Shipman meets part of my family that would help my job very much."

Jill frowned, than she sighed. Ever since her father had left she had been determined to be helpful and show her mother how brave and mature she was, but now she realized that she wasn't being very brave or mature. So she decided she'd just have to grin and bare it.

"You're right mum." She said.

"Alright, then," Mrs. Pole said surprised by her daughter's sudden change of attitude. "You know what, I'll make you a deal." She said "The party five hours long, but if you make a good impression we can leave after two."

Jill nodded and smiled. "Okay."

"Let's get going than." Mrs. Pole said getting her coat.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The Grand Ballroom was packed with people. People dancing, people talking, people walking around, just people everywhere.

Jill had only been there once before, and that was about four or five years ago when her father had taken her downtown to work with him and he had taken her to the Shelters Hotel for lunch. Being young and inquisitive Jill had wondered off when her father had gone into the restroom and ended up in the Grand Ballroom. It had seemed even bigger to her then when she was younger and she had walked around the whole place in amazement of seeing a room that big. Then the concierge had found her walking around, called her a 'naughty ragamuffin' and very angrily found and returned her to her father, who had been amused, rather than upset about the situation, much to the irritation of the huffy concierge.

It had been a while since then. Things had changed. The most significant being the abscence of Mr. Pole who would most like take Jill anywhere again. And the Grand Ballroom was no longer the biggest room Jill had ever seen, but the second biggest after the Ballroom in at Cair Paravel.

Honestly Jill, do you have to follow me around as if you were my tail?" Mrs. Pole asked when she saw that Jill was still following her everywhere that she went in the room.

"Well, what am I supposed to do mum?" Jill asked wearily.

"Talk to people, socialize." Mrs. Pole told her.

Jill sighed and walked away from her mother. They had only been there for half an hour, and Jill was already tired of the party.

'Maybe I can find Eleanor.' Jill thought hopefully to herself. She looked around the ballroom, which was crowded with people dancing on the dance floor and people talking of to the side. 'But they're so many people in here everyone in town must be here.' She thought.

Just as she was about to begin her search something ran into her, almost knocking her off her feet.

"Oh sorry." A voice said.

"That's alright-" Jill began to say, before she noticed who it was.

"Eustace!" she exclaimed, excited to see someone she knew.

"Oh good, it's only you." Eustace said when he realised who it was. He was still looking about him nervously

"What _are_ you doing." Jill asked him.

"I'm hiding from my cousins, Edmund and Lucy." Eustace told her.

Jill brightened. "Oh! The two who also went to Nar- well, you know, with you before?" she asked.

"Yes." Eustace said nodding.

"Well, why are you hiding from them?" Jill asked when he didn't supply her with any further information.

"They're trying to make me _dance_." Eustace said saying the word 'dance' as if it was something horrible and gruesome.

"Dancing isn't _so_ bad." Jill said.

Well not to _you_, of course." Eustace said as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. "You're a girl. It was probably a girl who invented dancing in the first place."

"Now that's the most stupid and immature thing I've ever heard anyone say." Jill said. "Plenty of men dance, mature ones."

"So, I don't obsess about trying to be "mature" like you do." Eustace said.

"I don't obsess about being mature." Jill said indignantly.

"Yes you do." Eustace insisted.

"I think _I_ would know if I did." Jill said. "And I don't."

"Oh no." Eustace said to himself in a sudden frenzy. "Edmund's coming this way." he said. "You didn't see me." he told Jill before he disappered into the crowd of people.

_'That_ was certinaly odd.' Jill thought to herself.

Just then a handsome, older boy came through and looked around. He groaned, and noticed the girl looking at him curiously. "I swear I just saw a boy around your age standing herea second ago." he explained to Jill.

"Oh, Eustace? I was just talking to him." Jill told him.

"You know him?" the boy asked her.

"Yes he, well, my name is Jill Pole." she introduced.

"Jill?" he asked. "I've heard all about you, I'm Eustace's cousin Edmund Pevensie." the boy introduced himself.

"It's nice to meet you." Jill said.

"You too." Edmund said. "We, well we really should get together one time to discuss things. All of us, you, me, Eustace, Peter, Susan, Lucy, and have you met the Professor?" he asked.

"Um, I'm afraid not." Jill said.

"Well we'll introduce you to him sometime." Edmund said. "Peter and Susan are away for the summer, studying in the United States, but Lucys around here somewhere."

"I'd like to meet them." Jill said a bit overwhelmed with the thought of all these new people.

"Anyway, back to present matters." Edmund said. "Have you seen my cousin, he's a sneaky fellow, that one."

"He went that way." Jill pointed, having no difficulty giving Eustace's location out after he had just said she was "obsessed with being mature.".

"Thank you." Edmund said before setting out.

"No problem." Jill assured him. It was really rather easy.

"Jill." A voice said.

Jill turned to her mother behind her.

"Come on Jill, it's time to introduce yourself." Mrs. Pole said.

"To who?" Jill asked.

"To, Mr. Shipman, Jill, remember the whole reason we're here?"

"Oh, yes." Jill said.

"Now, he's right over there." Mrs. Pole said as they walked over. "Remember, be polite." she reminded Jill.

"I know mum." Jill said in the exasperated way that teenagers have when parents remind them of the most elementry things, like not to open the door to any strangers when they're staying home alone, or to be careful when crossing the street.

Mr. Shipman looked just like Jill had thought a business tycoon to look like. Average height with white hair, and a white mustache.

"Mr. Shipman, this is my daughter Jill." Mrs. Pole presented her.

"It's nice to meet you." Jill said extending her hand to the business man.

"Well! It's nice to meet you to." Mr. Shipman said with a hint of surprise in his voice. "I didn't know you had any children." Mr Shipman said to Mrs. Pole.

"Yes, this my oldest, actually. I have a younger daughter named Lillian." she told him.

"That's great. You should bring them both to bring your daughter to work day in the fall." he told her. "Family is very important, you know young lady." he said turning to Jill.

"That's what my dear mother is _always_ telling my sister and I." Jill said in a slightly sarcastic tone, which went unoticed by Mr. Shipman, but earned her a reprimending look from her mother.

"And she's quite right." Mr. shipman said nodding sagely. "I guess I'll see you on work on Monday." he said to Mrs. Pole before leaving.

"That was good Jill, I really think you made an impression on him, despite your little remark." Mrs. Pole said.

"Sorry mum." Jill said. "Can we leave now?"

Mrs. Pole looked at her watch. "Remember our deal, we have ten minutes left.

"All right." Jill said before walking off to the side of the dance floor.

She watched the people on the floor as they moved this way, and that way, always so graceful. She didn't think she could dance like that. She would probably trip over how own two feet if she even attempted to.

"Hi." a girl's voice said to her.

Jill turned happily, thinking it was Eleanor, but was suprised to see an older, brown haired girl.

"I'm Lucy." she said. "My brother Edmund pointed you out to me." she told her.

"Oh, well I guess that you already know that I'm Jill then." Jill said. "Are you two still looking for Eustace?" she asked.

"Still, we thought we found him once, but he escaped by walking around a big group of businessmen." Lucy told her.

"That's funny." Jill said.

"Well, Eustace is a bit of a funny person anyways." Lucy said.

They both laughed.

"So did you parent's bring you here?' Lucy asked. "We're here with Eustace's parents."

'Oh, my mum's right over...there." Jill said pointing our her mom, who seemed to be talking to someone.

"Is that your father she's talking to?" Lucy asked innocently.

"Um..no." Jill said looking closer at the person. It was a man, who looked like he could be her father's age. He probably worked with her mum, or something.

"My parent's are divorced." she told Lucy in a matter-of-fact way. She had learned to say the words as if they didn't bother her. She remembered how she had repeated them over and over again inside her head when it had first happened. "My parents are divorced...My parents are divorced...My parents are divorced." she had thought with a bit panic and sadness, but she had learned to say the four words easily. "My parents are divorced."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lucy said.

"That's Okay." Jill assured her.

'Well, I have to get back to finding Eustace and getting him on the dance floor. It may take all night." Lucy said before walking off.

"Good she's gone." Jill heard someone say. She turned to see Eustace behind her. "Have you been standing there the whole time?" she accused.

"No, only a minute, I saw you talking to her, and I thought if I stayed here she probably wouldn't come back and check again." he said. "Pretty clever, don't you think?"

"You should dance at least once." Jill said instead of answering. "If you don't, than what was the whole point of all those gym classes where we learned to waltz, and foxtrot, and the lot?" she asked. "It's not like we really had a choice." Eustace reminded her.

"My point is, what's the use of having a skill if you're never going to put it to use?"

"Alright, then." Do you want to dance?" Eustace asked her.

"Huh?' Jill asked caught off guard.

"Do-you-want-to-dance-with-me." Eustace said really slowly as if he were talking to a five-year-old. "You know, so I can "put my skills to use." he said. "They're playing a waltz." he added.

"Alright." Jill said as nonchalantly as she could as she and Eustace walked onto the dancefloor. It seemed to happen so fast. She tried her best to remember the steps to the waltz as she had learned in gym class. At first she looked down at her feet the whole time, trying to make sure she didn't trip or stumble, then she realized that she could take her attention of her feet and looked up at Eustace.

"See, it's not so bad is it?" she asked him.

Eustace was about to shrug but then remembered he couldn't since he was dancing. "I guess not." he said. "Um, you're a pretty good dancer." he complimented akwardley, suddenly shy for some reason.

"Thank you." Jill said.

Pretty soon the dance was over.

"Aren't you glad you got that over with?" Jill asked.

"Actually, I wish i could do it again." Eustace said. "Do you want to?"

Jill was about to except.

"Jill." she heard her mum say. "I saw you two out there, you both dance very well." she told them.

"Thank you." Jill and Eustace both muttered.

"It's been ten minutes Jill, we can leave now." Mrs. Pole told her.

Jill suddenly wished she had not been so resistent about being at the party and wanted to beg her mum to let her stay another half hour.

"Okay." she said instead.

"Bye Eustace." Mrs. Pole said.

"Bye." he replied. "Bye Jill."

"Bye." Jill said even though she wished she could stay and dance with him.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The Party was over and Mrs. Pole and Jill had returned home.

Jill and Lily were sitting in the living room, both having bathed and in their pajamas. Jill was sitting on the sofa, whiles Lily laid out sprawled on the carpeted floor, looking at a book.

"Well you did your part Jill, there's no denying that." Mrs. Pole said as she came into the room. "Well I'm going to bed now. See you girls in the morning."

"Goodnight." Jill and Lily both said.

Once Mrs. Pole was completely on the steps, and they heard her bedroom door shut Lily sat down next to Jill on the sofa. "So how was your day?" she asked..

"It was okay." Jill told her.

"Really?" Lily asked, her head cocked to the side in an earnest, interested kind of way.

Jill thought about it."Well-"

Before she could even get past one word Lily was off.

"My day was great!" she exclaimed with the kind of hyper excitment that only a carefree and innocent nine-year-old girl could posses. "Grandma baked double chocolate chip cookies, and then she let me lick the spoon, and then we went to the park, and then I watched TV, and then we listened to records, and then we took the cookies out of the oven, and then I had some cookies, and they were really good, and then she gave me some milk to dunk them in, and then-"

Jill tuned her sister out and began to think about her own night. It had been...interesting. She had met Edmund and lucy for the first time, and she had liked them too. And then she had gotten to dance with Eustace, which she had to admit she rather enjoyed.

'Maybe I like him just a little bit.' Jill silently admitted to herself, but she wasn't going to admit to anyone else anytime soon.

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**And that was Chapter Eight: The Party. I think there was some movement in the plot there. Chapter Nine: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner will be up as soon as possible.**

**Riley 35**


	9. Chapter 9: Guess Whose Coming to Dinner

**Chapter Nine: Guess Whose Coming to Dinner**

It had been a week since the party at the Shipman's party had happened, and everything had gone back to normal. It was a perfect summer day, the kind of day you think about when you imagine summer. The sun was out, the sky was blue and clear, and the birds were singing.

Jill and Lily were making use of the good weather by sitting outside on the porch. Lilly was busy coloring with some paper and crayons she had brought with her outside and Jill was just enjoying the warm rays of light that the sun was casting upon them and thinking.

Just then Mrs. Pole came up into the driveway, her arms full with brown bags holding the groceries she had bought at the supermarket that morning. Jill and Lily instantly stood up to help her mother with the bags.

"Hello girls." Mrs. Pole greeted them as they took the bags. "How has your morning been?"

"It's been fine." Jill said.

Of course Lily had more to say. "My morning was great." She told her mother as they went through the back door and into the kitchen. "I played tag with Bobby Smith from across the street, and than I found a turtle walking along on the sidewalk and now it's in the garden, Jill said I should put it back in the woods, but I wanted to ask your first." She said.

"Jill's quite right Lily, you should put it back in its natural habitat." Mrs. Pole said. "Why don't you do that now?" she suggested.

"Okay!" Lily agreed before running back outside to where she had left the turtle.

Jill set the brown bag she was carrying on the table and began to put the groceries.

"Jill, I wanted to talk to you about something." Mrs. Pole said.

"…Alright." Jill said with a hint of suspicion in her voice. Something was definitely going on. Her mother had wanted to talk to her _after_ she'd sent Lily out. Jill didn't think it was just a coincidence. It must be something important, something that her mother didn't want Lily to hear.

"Now don't get all apprehensive Jill." Mrs. Pole said seeing the look on her daughter's face. "I just wanted to tell you that we'd be having company for dinner tonight."

"Why on such short notice?" Jill asked.

"Oh, it's not short notice I gave the invitation about a week ago." Mrs. Pole told her.

"Okay." Jill said. Truth be told the Pole's had not had not had much company over for dinner since her parents had gotten divorced. It seemed funny that her parent's divorce could affect something like that, but all of her mother's friends were her father's friends as well. Jill supposed they would feel awkward being at their house without their father there, and knowing why he wasn't there.

"So you are going to have to be washed up and ready at 6:30, and make sure your sister is ready to." Mrs. Pole said giving out the usual "dinner company instructions" that she had always given Jill. "And-"

"But mum," Jill interrupted, "You haven't told me whose coming over yet." She reminded her. Is it the Smiths, the Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Johansson?" she questioned naming her mother's friends who usually came over for dinner.

"No, no, this person has never been here for dinner before honey." Mrs. Pole told her.

"It's a person who's coming for dinner, as in singular, just one person?" Jill asked.

"Yes just one person Jill." Mrs. Pole said.

"Well have I met this person?" Jill asked.

"No, Jill, he's a friend from work." Mrs. Pole said.

"Oh." Jill said.

"Now let me get started on dinner." Mrs. Pole said taking her cooking book out from the kitchen drawer.

"…Do you need help?" Jill asked kindly, no hint of regret in her voice.

"No, that's okay sweetheart, run along and play." Mrs. Pole said with a wave of her hand.

"Okay." Jill said. 'I'm fourteen-years-old, I don't _play_ anymore.' She thought to herself.

Jill went back out to the front porch where Lily was sitting, back to coloring again.

"Hi." Jill said.

"Hi.' Lily said looking up at her coloring for a second to greet her sister to going back to busily coloring.

Jill sat down and looked at her sister. "You wouldn't happen to know any of mum's friends from work, would you Lils?" she asked. She had hit rock bottom, she was asking her sister for information.

"Nope." Lily said.

"Oh." Jill said.

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Oh, nothing, there's just someone coming over for dinner tonight." Jill told her.

"Do they have any kids?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, but they're coming alone." Jill told her.

"Aw, now I have to listen to some boring grown-up conversation all dinner." Lily said.

"Forget about that Lily, something is going on." Jill told her.

"What?" Lily asked sitting up and looking at her sister with a look of fear. "Is it bad?"

"Don't worry Lily. It's nothing bad or scary." Jill assured her. "It's just something weird."

"What?" Lily asked.

"I don't know Lils, but I think we're going to find out.

It was 6:15 and Jill was sitting on the living room couch dressed in a simple long cotton violet skirt and a white button-down shirt.

Lily came in wearing a long plaid green skirt and a blue sweater. "I hate dressing up she complained tugging at the collar of her sweater. "And this sweater is itchy she added."

"It's only for two or three hours." Jill comforted her whiles closing her book.

"Did you find out what was going on?" Lily asked as she sat down next to Jill.

"No." Jill said. "You haven't been going around telling _everyone_ about this have you?" Jill asked.

"I haven't told _anyone_!" Lily exclaimed offended. "What do you mean by _everyone_?"

"I know you Lily." Jill said.

"And what does that mean?" Lily asked.

"It means you're a blabbermouth." Jill said.

Lily gasped as if Jill had called her a much worse name, one that I'm sure most of us can be imagined being called. "_I am not a blabbermouth_!" she exclaimed.

Just then Mrs. Pole walked down the stairs, on her way to the kitchen.

"Mummy, Jill called me a blabbermouth." Lily told her.

"Jill, don't call your sister names.' Mrs. Pole responded automatically before going into the kitchen.

"You see, you couldn't even keep _that_ to yourself." Jill pointed out to Lily.

Lily seethed at the comment, not being able to come up with something to say to retaliate. "I'm not a blabbermouth…you'll see." She said before running off.

Jill looked in the direction Lily had run off and shook her head; she had more important things to worry about tonight…

DING-DONG! The doorbell rang. Jill waited a second; it looked like nobody had heard the doorbell but her.

"I'll get it." Jill said before getting up and walking to the doorbell. She reached for the doorknob and opened the door.

Outside stood a familiar looking man, he was blonde and handsome for someone as old as he was. He was also holding a bouquet of what appeared to different colored carnations.

"Hi." Jill said awkwardly, not opening the door any wider.

"Hello there." The man said with the best smile that he could muster, obviously nervous. "You must be Lillian."

"Um, no." Jill said. 'And just who exactly are you.' She wanted to ask, but thought better of it. "Are you here for dinner?" she asked in a monotone voice instead.

"Oh, yes." The smile said with that nervous smile, which was irritating the heck out of Jill, still plastered on his face.

"Hold on." She said before closing the door in the man's face.

"Mum!" she called as she walked into the kitchen.

"What is it Jill?" Mrs. Pole asked. She was setting the table, and Lily was sitting in her usual seat, quiet as a church mouse.

"Some odd man's at the door." Jill said.

"An odd man?" Mrs. Pole said curiously. "Here she said handing the silverware Jill, while's I go see what this is all about."

Jill continued where her mother had left off placing down forks and knives.

She noticed Lily hadn't said anything since she'd entered the room, which was odd, very odd.

"Well what's the matter with you?" she asked.

Lily just shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay…" Jill said before going back to what she was doing.

She stopped when she heard voices in the living room.

"Here can you finish this?" she asked Lily.

Lily nodded and took the silverware.

Jill tiptoed to the door that connected the kitchen and the living room and leaned her ear against it. Of course she knew that eavesdropping was wrong, but this seemed like a special case.

"These are for you." She heard someone say, it sounded like the man who'd been at the door.

"Thank you Scott, they're lovely." That was definitely her mother's voice. "Let me put these in some water and, you can head on into the kitchen and introduce you to the girls." She said.

Jill quickly rushed to her seat at the table and sat down.

She looked at Lily and put a finger to her lips. "Shhhh." She said, to which Lilly nodded.

The door opened and in walked the blonde man who had been outside.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." Jill said. Lily remained silent.

"So _you_ must be Lillian." He said looking at Lily. Lily just nodded.

Jill gave her sister a weird look. 'What _is_ she up to?' She wondered to herself.

"We call her Lily for short." Jill told the man in a matter-of-fact way.

"Oh." The man said. "Well, hi they're Lily." Lily just waved.

"And you must be Jill." He said to Jill.

"I must be." Jill said.

"So how old are you, twelve?" the man asked.

"Fourteen." Jill said, not saying more than she had to.

"And you?" he asked Lily.

Lily held up seven fingers.

The man nodded. It was silent in the room. Not the good kind of silence, but the awkward kind of silence. It went on for about five minutes before Mrs. Pole walked in.

"So I see you've met the girls." She said.

"Um-hmm." The man said.

"Girls, this is Scott Foreman he and I work together." She explained.

Jill realized exactly why the man was familiar. She had seen him before. It was a week ago at the Shipman's party. She had been talking to Lucy and had pointed out her mother who had been talking to some man. Scott Foreman was that man. She had thought that he worked with her mum or something. Well it looked like it was or something.

Once they were all seated and served Jill decided she'd find out a little more about this guy.

"Mr. Foreman-" Jill started. "Are you married?"

Scott nearly coughed on his water. "Oh, no, I'm not." He told her.

"Have you _ever_ been married?" she asked.

"No, I haven't." Scott answered.

"Do you have any kids?" she asked.

"No." Scott said.

"Do you want to have kids some day?" she asked.

"Well-" Scott started nervously.

"Jill is a _very_ inquisitive girl." Mrs. Pole said whiles giving Jill a stern look.

Scott sighed mentally, happy not to have to answer the question.

"So Mr. Foreman-" Jill started.

"Oh, you can call me Scott, dear." Scott told her.

'I never said _you_ could call _me_ dear.' Jill thought to herself, but instead asked, "What exactly is it that you do?"

Scott wiped his mouth with the napkin. "Well, I'm an attorney for Shipman Enterprises Jill." He said. "I work on their legal cases and-well, it's very complicated for a little girl to understand."

Jill picked at her lasagna. "Well, you must have a lot of free time down at that office to be developing friendships with secretaries." Jill noted.

"_Jill_." Mrs. Pole said. "…Can you pass me the green beans?"

"I'd happily do that if my arms were made of rubber Mum, but they're half way across the table from me." Jill pointed out. "Why don't you ask _Scott_, they're right in front of him?"

"'I've got them." Scott said getting the green beans and passing them to Mrs. Pole who only took about two of them since she already had a spoonful in her plate.

Jill decided she better not push her luck and remained quiet the rest of the dinner unless she was spoken to, and when she was spoken to she replied in the briefest answer possible.

Lily remained quiet the whole time, and when spoken to would use some kind of sign language to reply, though Mrs. Pole probably would have appreciated her usual nonstop chattering at that time.

Mrs. Pole and Scott made conversation for the rest of the dinner, whiles the girls both ate silently.

Finally it was time for dessert which was apple pie, and looked like the rest of the night would go on without incident.

"So Jill, what are you into?" Scott asked her.

The poor guy had been having a rough night, he'd been trying his best to get the girls to like him, but one of them wouldn't even talk, and the one who did seemed determined to hate him.

"…into?" Jill asked.

"Like, what do you like?" Scott elaborated.

"I don't know." Jill said.

"Well I always see Jill reading." Mrs. Pole said. "She reads a book a day."

"Well, it looks like you've got a little scholar on your hands." Scott said to Mrs. Pole. "You know you ought to see the new museum that's opening up soon downtown." He suggesed to Jill. "I heard it's really neat. You know what'd be fun?" he asked.

Jill shook her head.

"How about I take you and your sister down there some time?" he asked.

Jill looked up at him. "…No thanks." She said.

Scott coughed nervously. "Well, I really must be going." He said to Mrs. Pole. "Um, bye girls." He said before Mrs. Pole went to walk him to his car.

Jill instantly stood up and walked to door, Lily right behind her, and pressed her ear against the door, Lily doing the same.

"I'm sorry Scott." She heard her mother say. "She's usually not like this, I didn't _raise_ her likes this."

"It's alright." Scott voice was heard. "I guess it's not easy for her."

"She's not going to get away with behaving like this, believe me." Mrs. Pole told him.

"Don't go to hard on her." Scott said gently. "I can tell she's a good kid."

'What does he know?' Jill thought bitterly to herself.

"Let me walk you to your car." She heard her mother offer.

Jill heard the front door open and clothed, and she and Lily both removed their ears from the door and looked at each other.

The two sister walked into the living room and sat on the couch, both silent.

The front door opened and Mrs. Pole walked in, not looking happy.

"Jill Pole!" Mrs. Pole exclaimed. Jill and Lily knew that their mother was angry, and not just the usual angry parents get all the time, but the kind of angry that they get only once in a while, about every five years, when you've done something _really_ wrong.

Lily stood up and silently left the room sensing the tension, and sensing that she was not involved.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" Mrs. Pole asked furiously looking at her oldest daughter.

"I don't know." Jill said, not knowing what else she could answer such a question with.

"That was a _rhetorical_ question." Mrs. Poled seethed.

Jill remained silent.

"Why were you so rude tonight?" she asked.

Jill still remained silent.

"_Well_, answer me young lady." Mrs. Pole ordered.

Jill had thought it had been another rhetorical question, but decided not to tell her mother that. "…I don't know." Jill said again.

Mrs. Pole sighed. "Why don't you just go to your room Jill, we'll talk about this tomorrow."

Jill greatfully stood up and went up the stairs.

It was midnight and things were relatively quiet. The light in Jill's room was out she was still laying awake in her bed, thinking.

The door creaked open and Lily walked into the room and climbed into her big sister's bed.

"Mummy is really mad at you." Lily whispered.

"I don't care." Jill whispered back stubbornly

"I think that you do." Lily said, not being smart, or sarcastic, but just plain informative.

It was silent for a few minutes.

"Why don't you like that Scott man so much, he seemed nice?" Lily asked.

Jill sighed. "You think everyone is nice Lily."

"But what did he do that was so bad?" Lily asked.

"Lily..." Jill said.

"What?" Lily asked.

"...it's nothing." Jill said. "So what was with you tonight?"

Lily smiled. "Nothing." she said. "I was just not being a chatterbox." she said.

Jill couldn't help but smile. "Fine, it's late you should go to sleep."

"Can I sleep in her tonight?" Lily asked.

"Alright." Jill agreed.

It was silent for a few minutes and Jill knew Lily was asleep when she stopped moving around and her breathing evened.

Looking down at her sleeping sister, Jill felt a pang in her heart and wished she was that young again. Things seemed so perfect back then. She had a wonderfull little sister, a mother and father who loved her, and no worries in the world.

She still had a wonderful little sister, at least. She also still had a mother, but...

In the dark of the night Jill thought of what she hadn't had the heart to tell Lily.

'He's trying to change our family.'


	10. Chapter 10: Musings and a Conversation

**Chapter Ten: Some Musings and a Conversation**

Jill woke up early the next morning. She carefully got out of the bed, avoiding waking up Lily, who was still sleeping besides her. She looked at the clock that hung on the wall across from her bed. It was six thirty in the morning.

Tiredly she remembered the disaster of a dinner that had happened yesterday. She was still mad, and had the feeling that she had a right to be, her mother hadn't been exactly straightforward with her after all. Calling this Scott man a "friend" from work. Did her mother think she was Lily's age? She knew what was going on.

Her mother said that they would talk more about what had happened the night before. Jill knew what _that_ meant as well. Mrs. Pole would talk and she would listen, and then she would get grounded or extra chores, or some other sort of punishment. Jill could handle the grounding and the chores, but what she couldn't handle her mother acting as it was all _her_ fault. Sure she had not been exactly polite to Scott, but her mother had _lied_ to her. She'd lied to her about some man.

When the divorce had happened Mrs. Pole had said it would be the three of them, her, Jill, and Lily against the world. What had happened to that? Now she was bring some man into it.

Deciding that she didn't feel like having a "talk" with her mother Jill quickly took a shower, got dressed, tiptoed downstairs, and headed out the front door. It was summer, so the sun was already up, it was a little chilly so Jill needed a sweater, but she was sure she would be able to take it off later in the day.

She walked down the street, not exactly sure where she was going to go.

* * *

Jill walked to the park and then walked around it aimlessly. It was mostly empty except for the occasional dog walker. It was going to be a long day, she could tell. It had been a long summer, in fact, and it was only the middle of June. She almost wished that the summer holidays would end so she could go to school and get out of the house. 

After half an hour or so Jill realized that during her directionless walking she had some how ended up at the lake, the very same one she had been to with Eustace that time some weeks ago. It was peaceful there, she decided, so she sat down in the grass in front of the lake, leaning against a big oak tree that was behind her.

It hadn't always been like this. She decided after thinking for a while. Things hadn't always been so confusing. Her parent's used to be together and they'd been happy, at least it had seemed like it to her.

She supposed it had happened the year before when she was in the seventh grade. It was a bit after she'd gone to Narnia. No, they'd been arguing before that, maybe in sixth grade. Those few arguments had not really seemed like much back then.

They'd also started spending less time together, Jill realized, after some thinking. Sometimes her father would be late and completely miss dinner, or her mother would take Lily somewhere whiles her father would take her somewhere else or vice versa, they just seemed to never spend time together anymore. She hadn't noticed of course, she was only twelve, but…

Maybe if she hadn't been so clueless she could have done something. She didn't know exactly what, but, she could have come up with a plan or something to make them spend more time with each other, then they'd realize how much they really loved each other and they wouldn't have gotten divorced.

Now this man, _Scott_, was trying to come in and make everything worse.

'If I ever get married, I'm going to make sure that I'll never get divorced.' Jill decided. 'Divorce ruins everything'.

She drew her knees into her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and gazed out onto the lake. 'What am I going to do?' she asked herself miserably. She tried not to feel sorry for herself, but before she could stop them the tears began to roll out of her eyes and down her face.

She'd only been crying a minute when she heard footsteps behind her.

'_Great_.' She thought quickly brushing the tears out of her eyes. 'Who else would be here at this time?' she asked herself looking at a watch, but no, it was already eight o'clock, she had been sitting there longer than she thought.

"Well Jill, it looks like great minds think alike." Eustace said cheerily as he walked up to her. "I had no idea you'd be here to. That's…" he caught a glimpse of her face and his demeanor changed from happy, to worried in an instant. "…Are you alright Jill?" Eustace asked.

"Yes, Eustace, I'm fine." Jill said wiping her sleeve over her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"You just…well…don't look to well I guess." Eustace said. He was going to say that she looked like she did that time when he found her behind the gym after she'd been crying, but decided against it. "I don't know, maybe it's just my imagination." He said instead.

"I'm fine." Jill said wiping her eyes again. "It's just the pollen affecting my allergies." She said knowing, it was the most unbelievable excuse that she could come up with.

Eustace continued to stand there for a few minutes, and for the first time Jill wished he would leave.

"Jill," Eustace started. "You're the best friend that I have." Eustace said, he shuffled from one foot to another nervously. "…if you ever need to talk or anything…you can talk to me."

Jill nodded.

"I guess I'll be going now." Eustace said, and started to walk away.

"She doesn't care about me." Jill said.

Eustace stopped and turned around.

"Who doesn't care about you?" he asked gently.

"My mother." Jill told him.

Eustace walked back and sat down next to her.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"She invited some man over for dinner." She began. "She said he was a "friend" from work, but I could tell it wasn't like that. She lied. I guess…I wasn't as polite to him as I should have been, but…it hasn't even been six whole months yet."

Eustace nodded. Jill's parents had gotten divorced January, he knew. Everyone knew, no one else's parents had ever been divorced, so it had been big news at school.

"Now she's mad at me, but how can she be mad at me when _she's_ the one who broke all of her promises?"

"Jill, parents are odd." Eustace said.

Jill looked at him, obviously waiting for him to explain his statement.

"Sometimes…they think they're only doing what's best for you, when they really…_aren't_. They're doing the exact opposite is what they're doing" he said. Jill could tell he was not only thinking of her situation when he said this.

"Jill, your mum cares about you, I know she does." Eustace said. "I mean…well…sometimes I feel as if _Alberta_ doesn't care about _me_, but I know she does, she just doesn't understand what's best for me is all…my parents are stubborn, I've met your mother Jill, and I think that she could understand you, if your tried to explain yourself to her."

Jill looked at Eustace, and for some reason she remembered that time she had run into him when she was taking Lily to the dentist. He was being kind again, cheering her up as he had cheered Lily up. "I guess you may be right." Jill said.

Eustace shrugged. "I didn't mean to get all philosophical on you, it's just what I think." He said.

Jill sighed. "It just seems as if all I do is give." she said. "When my mum and dad divorced she asked me to be strong for Lily." Jill said. "So I was strong, for Lily _and_ for her. And now she's asking me to let this man that I don't even _know_ just come into our lives and take my father's place. I can't do it, Eustace, I just _can't_."

"Then tell her that." Eustace said.

Jill nodded. "I will." she said. "Eustace?"

"Yes?" Eustace asked.

"Thanks." Jill said.

"For what?' Eustace asked.

"I don't know." Jill said. "For talking to me, I guess. I got up from bed this morning and I was angry and sad and confused, and...you made me feel a lot better. You can actually be a very nice boy sometimes."

"_A very nice boy_." Eustace asked making a face, as if it were more of an insult than a compliment.

Jill laughed at his expression. "Yes, a very nice boy." she repeated. "I have to get home now." She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek before standing up. "Bye Eustace." she said, before taking off.

Eustace didn't answer but continued to sit there with his hand on the spot where she had kissed his cheek.

**

* * *

And that was Chapter Ten: Musings and a Conversation, I know, kind of angst filled, but, I don't know, I thought it sort of worked. Chapter Eleven will be as soon as possible. **

Riley 35


	11. Chapter 11: Hello Stranger

6

**Chapter Eleven: Hello Stranger **

"Jill, stop poking at that." Mrs. Pole scolded her oldest daughter, who was absentmindedly dipping her finger into the large bowl of vanilla frosting that Mrs. Pole had spent the last fifteen minutes making from scratch.

"Sorry mum." Jill apologized guiltily, licking her finger clean of the frosting. "I was just testing it to make sure it wasn't poisonous or anything."

It was Friday afternoon and Jill was in the kitchen helping Mrs. Pole bake a cake for the next day. The occasion was Lily's eighth birthday, for which they were making a special dinner. It would be nothing big, of course, just Mrs. Pole, Jill, and Lily.

"Nice try Jill." Mrs. Pole said with a smile. "But I think you would have been able to tell it wasn't poisonous after the other five or six "tests" of yours. Now why don't you make yourself useful and fetch me the sugar from the pantry." Mrs. Pole said as she continued to stir the cake mixture she was making.

Jill obediently stood up and went to the pantry to get the ingredient that her mother had requested.

It had been about a month since the disastrous dinner had occurred. Jill had been going to sit down and talk with mother as Eustace had suggested, but since then Mrs. Pole had not spoken a word about Scott. Jill decided it would be better not to bring it up if it wasn't being talked about. So the Pole household and been peaceful, not completely peaceful, but at least as peaceful as it could possibly get.

Jill opened the pantry and grabbed the jar of sugar that they always kept for baking. She walked back to the counter and handed her mother the sugar.

"Can you believe that your baby sister is going to be eight-years-old tomorrow?" Mrs. Pole asked with a look of reminiscence in her eyes as she took the sugar from her daughter. "And in a month and a half you're going to be leaving home for the first time. Time moves by so quickly."

"It does move quickly." Jill agreed. "A little _too_ quickly." She added quietly, more to herself than to her mother, as she sat back down at the counter.

"What do you mean by that?" Mrs. Pole asked.

"Hmm?" Jill asked not realizing that her mother had heard her. "Oh, well…it's just that so much has happened this year, and now it's already over. It just feels like I never have enough time to stop and catch my breath before something else big happens to me."

"That's the way life is Jill." Mrs. Pole said as she poured the sugar into a measuring cup and studied it to make sure that she had the right amount. "It moves quickly, you have to treasure each moment that you have because you're never going to live it again, and you have to remember to stop and look at what's going on around you once in a while before it completely passes you by."

Jill watched her mother as she gradually poured the sugar into bowl of cake mix and stirred it in. Eustace was right, parents were _odd_. Usually her mother was just the person who told her what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. And other times, she was so sage and wise. Jill wondered how her mother had gotten to know so much, and wondered if she herself would ever know as much.

"I suppose you're right mum." Jill said.

Mrs. Pole nodded. "So what did you get Lillian for her birthday?" she asked.

"Well, I haven't exactly gotten Lily her present yet." Jill admitted.

"Jill, her birthday is tomorrow." Mrs. Scrub reminded her.

"I know, I know." Jill said. "And I've been saving up to get her something nice, but I just haven't had the time to go shopping. I thought I'd go into town today and find something." Jill said.

Mrs. Pole sighed. "I always tell you not to leave things for the last minute Jill… Alright, go, but you better get on you way soon, it's already four o'clock, and I don't want you out after dark."

"Thanks mum." Jill said. "I'll get going right now." She told her.

Jill took her shoes from where they stayed in the small closet by the front door, and exited the house. She was walking down her driveway when she heard someone call her name.

"Jill!"

She turned to see Eustace walking up the street. "Eustace," Jill said in surprise. She smiled. "It looks like we've bumped into each other once again."

"Well, actually, I was looking for you." Eustace said bashfully.

"Looking for me? Why?" Jill asked curiously.

"Oh, no reason," Eustace said, shuffling from foot to foot, nervously. "I just, I don't know, I just wanted to say hi." He said. "So I decided to head over, and I saw you coming down the driveway." He explained.

Luckily his nervousness went unnoticed by Jill. "That's nice of you." She told him, slightly bewildered by his impulsive, yet thoughtful act. "I was just heading down to the shops." She told him. "Tomorrow's Lily's birthday and I'm going to go find her a present."

Eustace nodded.

"…Well." Jill said not exactly know what to say. "I better get going." She said.

Eustace nodded again.

Jill nodded and turned around and began to walk in the direction of the shops. She felt bad for having to leave so soon. Eustace _had_ walked all the way over her house to say "hi", it seemed as if she should have spoken with him longer. She had taken three or four steps when she had an idea. She turned around. "Eustace!" she called. Eustace, who had begun to walk back in the direction turned around. "I would really fancy some company." Jill told him. "If you're not busy, would you like to come with me?" she asked.

Eustace smiled, nodded, and walked over to her. "If you really need some company." He said. "I won't mind helping you out."

Jill smiled. "You're such a gentleman." She teased him, as they began to walk.

"I try." Eustace said.

Soon Jill and Eustace found themselves at the shopping center. When people needed buy something special or particular they took a train down to the city, but other than that people went to the small shopping center in town. The center had the necessary stores, a grocery store, a barbershop, a candy store, a two or three clothing stores, one or two small café type restaurants, and a few small shops.

Soon Jill and Eustace found themselves at the shops. The shops were usually very crowded with people during the weekend, and especially during summer. It was usually very crowded with people during the weekend and the summer. There were all sorts of people there, parents with children, teenagers a little older than Jill and Eustace, and couples. Jill noticed that there were quite a few couples there.

'I guess couples have to go _somewhere_.' She thought to herself. She then wondered if people who walked by her and Eustace would get the idea that _they_ were a couple. She looked over at Eustace who had an unreadable expression on his face, as he walked lightheartedly. 'No.' Jill decided. 'We don't look anything like a couple.' She studied the couples around them. 'They're all holding hands and things like that. And they…I don't know, just _look_ like couples. Eustace and I don't have that look.' She thought. 'Because we're only friends…'

"So what do you suppose you'll get Lily?" Eustace asked.

"Hmm?" Jill asked, snapping out of her thought.

"You said that you were looking for a birthday present for Lily." Eustace reminded her.

"Oh, right." Jill said.

"You seem to be far away." Eustace commented. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, no." Jill assured. "I was just thinking." she told him, not really wanting him to know what _exactly_ she was thinking about. "I wonder what I should get Lily." she said quickly, changing the subject.

"Did you have anytihng specific in mind?" Eustace asked.

Jill shook her head. "No," she said. "This store looks interesting." she said stopping in front of a small department store.

"Then let's take a look inside." Eustace said opening the store door and holding it open for Jill.

"What do you think of this?" Jill asked Eustace.

The two of them were standing in the back of the store, next to a shelf which carried a variety of books. Jill had picked out a pink journal. It was full of empty pages for writing and had a golden colored lock on the front, for the writer's privacy, and came with a pink pen that matched the journal and a golden colored key for the lock.

"It's pink and covered with glitter." Eustace informed Jill as if she was blind and couldn't see the journal in her own hands. "As a boy, I am incapable of thinking anything about it."

"Eustace." Jill said in a scolding tone, though she was smiling. "I'm not asking about the journal itself." Jill said. "I'm talking about…about the _idea_ of the journal."

"The idea?" Eustace asked.

"Yes." Jill said. "It would be something that Lily had of her own, to write down all of her personal thoughts and opinions." she said.

"Well then, I think it's a brilliant idea." Eustace said.

"Well _I_ did think of it, so it must be." Jill said jokingly.

Eustace grinned. "It _must_ be." he said.

Jill smiled and then looked down at the journal to see if the price tag was attached to it.

"Jill," Eustace said pensively. "Do you know that stranger standing by the checkout counter?" Eustace asked.

"No, why?" Jill asked without looking up from the notebook, still searching for the price.

"Well the chap is looking at us rather oddly." Eustace said.

Jill looked up, thinking that Eustace was mistaken, but was surprised with what she saw.

"...That's not a stranger." Jill told Eustace quietly. "That's my father."

Mr. Pole looked exactly the same way as Jill remembered him. Tall and handsome with dark brown hair the same color as Lily's, and eyes like her own, the only differnce being that he had bit of stuble, and he had usually kept his face clean-shaven. Jill didn't know what she had been expecting. He had already been gone for a little more than half a year, it wasn't as if he would have grown horns or anytihng like that.

Mr. Pole realized that Jill had seen him and decided that he had better go over. He walked over to where Jill and Eustace were standing. Jill noticed Eustace quietly slip away and was thankful for the thoughtful act.

"Hello Jill." Mr. Pole greeted his daughter awkwardly.

"Hello dad." Jill replied, just as awkwardly as her father.

They stood there for a few minutes before Mr. Pole broke the uncomfortable silence.

"So are you buying that?" He asked pointing to the notebook in Jill's hand.

"Oh, um, yes." Jill said looking down at the journal, in her hand as if she had forgot that she was holding it.

"…It's nice." Mr. Pole said.

"Yes. It's for Lily." Jill told him.

"Oh yes, it's her birthday tomorrow." Mr. Pole said. "She's going to be eight-years-old."

"…you remembered." Jill said in surprise.

"Of course I remembered." Mr. Pole said.

Jill was quiet for minute. It just didn't seem right. Her father had been there for all of her and Lily's birthdays. It didn't seem right for him to miss this one, it seemed unfair that he wouldn't be there for a special moment in his own daughter's life. Jill wondered if that was the way things were going to be from now on. That thought was unbearable. It was true that he had not been there for the last six months or so, but he was still her father...

"We're having a small party for Lily's birthday tomorrow. Just mum, Lily, and I." Jill told him before she knew what she was saying. "Maybe, if you had time…you could drop by." She suggested.

"…I don't know of that's the best idea Jill…" Mr. Pole said.

"We have a lot of room, it wouldn't be any trouble at all." Jill told him.

"I'll see." Mr. Pole said. "...Well, I better go purchase my items." he said.

Jlill nodded, and her father walked back to the checkout line.

"Jill, I know this absolutely none of my bussiness, but are you sure that was a good idea?" She looked up to see Eustace looking at her with concern.

"I don't know Eustace." Jill admitted. "It was so, so _odd_ standing there and talking to my father, and as I was talking to him the one thing that kept running through my mind was, 'It shouldn't be like this.' It's only been six months since I last saw my dad. But it seems like it's been so much longer than that…it's like we're complete strangers to each other."

"Jill, we're all kind of strangers to our parents." Eustace said. "I mean...they love us, but they don't really _know_ us."

Jill thought about it. She nodded. "That makes sense." she said.

"...So are you going to buy that?" Eustace asked nodding at the journal in Jill's hand.

Jill nodded and looked up at the checkout line to see if her father was still there, but he had already paid for his items and left. She sighed, and walked over to the line so she could pay for the journal.


	12. Chapter 12: The Birthday

**AN: So, here I am, back from my unannounced and unplanned sabbatical. I hope some of the people who were reading this are still slightly interested in what happens in the rest of the story. So, without further ado, here's Chapter Twelve. **

**Chapter Twelve: The Birthday**

It was around six o'clock at night. It was still bright outside, due to the long days caused by summer, and the sky was a harshly bright blue color. Jill was in the Pole's kitchen, helping her mother put the final touches on Lily's birthday dinner. The dinner was simple, but it comprised of Lily's favorites foods: mashed potatoes, pork chops, green beans, and a chocolate birthday cake. (Actually Green beans were not one of Lily's favorite foods, but Mrs. Pole had felt the need to incorporate vegetables into the menu, as almost any parent would.) Jill was helping Mrs. Pole with the last chore of the night, which was frosting the birthday cake. She had to admit to herself that they had done an exceptional job with the cake. It had taken a lot of work, but the end result looked like something that could be bought in any bakery. They had covered the top with vanilla frosting, and then wrote: "Happy Birthday Lily" in the very middle of the cake in bright pink frosting. They had then started to draw flowers on the surface of the cake in blue and yellow colored frosting.

Jill had been able to maintain a seemingly calm appearance all day, but on the inside she was panicking. The moment she had woken up that morning she had began to think that inviting her father to the dinner without her mother's knowing had been the most idiotic thing that she had ever done in her life. She tried to justify her actions by reminding herself of the time her mother had invited that Scott man to dinner without her knowing, but deep down she had a feeling that her mother would not see it as the same thing. It seemed that whenever a child did something that was considered wrong it was a big deal, but if a parent were to do the exact same thing it wasn't so wrong. That was the double standard that every teenager in the world was aware of and forced to live with. But Jill knew she didn't have the right to hide behind the excuse of that double standard in that instance. That Scott man who had come before had just been someone her mother worked with, who Jill had not even known, and this was her _father_. It seemed odd when Jill thought about it, before she would have never had thought that there would be a time when inviting her father into a house that had once been his own would be such a big deal.

"Jill, are you alright?" Mrs. Pole asked looking at her daughter as she slowly and carefully drew a blue frosting flower on the chocolate birthday cake. "You're being so quiet tonight." She observed.

"Oh, yes." Jill said snapping out of the deep trance of thought which she been in. "I'm alright, Mum, I suppose I'm just a little tired." Jill said quickly.

"Why don't you go sit down for awhile and let me finish this cake." Mrs. Pole suggested kindly.

"Mum, I can't leave you to finish all of it by yourself." Jill protested.

"You've been a great help to me already." Mrs. Pole assured. "Besides if you're tired your work will get sloppy, and we'll have some rather odd looking flowers on this cake." She added teasingly.

Jill laughed. "Alright, Mum." She said, realizing her mother was not going to give up until she gave in. Jill felt her heart sink in. Unfortunately her mother was in a rather benevolent mood that night, and not a peevish one. If she had been in snappy mood Jill would have felt less guilty. She had a feeling that her mother would not be so kind with her when she found out what she had done. Jill walked in the living room where she found Lily sitting on the couch, squirming excitedly.

"So," Jill said sitting down on the sofa next to her sister, attempting to get her mind off of her current dilemma. "How does it feel to be eight-years-old, Lily?" she asked.

"It's _amazing._" Lily said enthusiastically.

Jill laughed.

"Jill, why do we _always_ have to do dinner before presents?" Lily asked, still not quite able to sit still in her seat. "I don't know if I can _wait_ that long." Jill was accustomed to her little sister's usually hyper demeanor, but it seemed like for a few days of the year, like holidays and birthdays, especially her own birthday, Lily's… hyperness was extremely heightened. She had been bouncing off the walls ever since she had gotten out of the bed that morning.

"_Lillian_." Jill scolded playfully. "Just sit still and wait."

"_Jillian_." Lily said doing what Jill hated to admit was a rather good impression of her "I just want to know."

"Well," Jill said. "We have always have dinner before presents because me and Mum love to make you wait for you presents and torture you." She teased.

DING-DONG! The doorbell rang making Jill jump. "Don't worry, I'll get it!" Jill she yelled in the kitchen, standing up from her seat with incredible speed. She ran to the front door. This was it. When she opened the door her father would be standing there to share Lily's birthday dinner with them. The situation could either go extremely well or extremely bad. Jill had a terrible feeling that it would be the latter. Slowly she turned the door knob and pulled open the door…

To Jill's relief and surprise it was not her father standing behind her front door but…Eustace.

"Eustace…Hello." Jill said in surprise.

"Hello." Eustace said. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything" He said very apologetically, looking apprehensive.

"Oh no, you're not interrupting anything." Jill assured him.

Eustace looked more at ease.

"Do you want to come in?" she offered.

"Oh no, thank you." Eustace said. "I just wanted to drop this off." He said.

It was not until that moment that Jill noticed that he had been holding something at his side the whole time. It seemed to be a piece of paper, folded in half, but she couldn't see what was written on it. Eustace handed it to her.

"Yesterday I made Lily this card for her birthday." Eustace explained. "I wanted to come by and drop if off earlier today, but I couldn't get out of the house 'till now. Alberta decided to rearrange the house today," he told her sounding exasperated and worn out. "She's been making Harold and I move _all_ of the furniture in our house to new spots. It's quite the pain."

Jill took the card from his hand. "That does sound awful." She said sympathizing for him. She looked down at the card in her hand and took a good look at it. On the front of the card the words "Happy Birthday!" were written very neatly in green, blue, and red colored pencils. She opened the card and read it: "Dear Lily" it said at the top of the card. "I that hope you have an absolutely wonderful 8th birthday" the middle read. "Your Friend Eustace" it ended.

Jill smiled. The card was so simple, yet so considerate and…_sweet_. "You _made_ this?" she asked. "All by _yourself_?" she teased, although she was still surprised and touched by the gesture of him making the card for Lily. "With _colored pencils_?"

Eustace didn't respond, but his cheeks were turning an interesting shade of red, luckily Jill was to busy looking at the card to notice. She looked up at him. "It's rather thoughtful of you." She told Eustace sincerely, smiling at him. "This will make Lily so happy. She really likes you, you know."

"Well," Eustace said looking embarrassed. "It isn't that big of deal, it wasn't a lot of trouble." He told her, making sure he sounded as casual as possible.

"Still…" Jill said looking down at the card again.

"Well, I better be back on my way." Eustace said looking at his wristwatch. "Alberta will probably need me to move around more furniture soon." He said with a grimace.

"Alright," Jill said. "Bye." She said. She stood and watched him walk down her driveway. She then closed the door and walked into the kitchen.

"Who was it?" Mrs. Pole asked.

"Eustace." Jill told her. "Look what he made for Lily." She said showing her mother the card.

"That Eustace is such a nice boy." Mrs. Pole said. "It seems the two of you have become such good friends lately." She mused as she looked at the card. "You know," she said thoughtfully, looking up at Jill. "We ought to invite him and his parents over here for dinner sometime."

Jill suddenly pictured her and her family and Eustace and his parents seated around the Pole's dining room table with a terribly awkward silence hanging over all of them. "I suppose we could maybe do that…" Jill said tensely. She prayed that her mother did not remember the idea later on. "I'm going to put this card with Lily's other presents." She said abruptly, hoping she had done a good job changing the subject, and gotten the idea out of her mother's head.

She walked out of the kitchen and to the closet next to the front door. She opened it and put the card on the top shelf along with two objects wrapped up in bright wrapping paper. The smaller parcel, Jill knew, was the journal that she had bought for her sister the day before. The other parcel was from Mrs. Pole; it was square shaped and about twice as big as Jill's present, but Mrs. Pole had not told Jill what it was. She knew Jill and Lily were close, and she had not trusted Jill not to accidentally tell her younger sister what the present was. Personally Jill thought that her mum was underestimating her maturity on that account. She assumed Mrs. Pole thought this way was because she had never completely gotten over the incident that had occurred two years ago, when Jill had told Lily that there actually _wasn't_ a Saint Nicholas. Lily had been crushed, and Mrs. Pole had been livid.

Jill closed the closet door and walked back into the kitchen.

"Jill, would you go and call your sister to dinner whiles I set the table?" Mrs. Pole requested as she began putting the casseroles onto the kitchen table.

"Already?" Jill asked. She didn't think it would be a good idea to start before Mr. Pole had arrived. She didn't want him that they hadn't been considerate enough to wait for him, even if two thirds of them weren't even aware of the fact that he would be joining them that afternoon. "I mean, don't you think we should wait just a little while longer?" Jill suggested to her mother, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Why?" Mrs. Pole asked, looking at her daughter curiously. "Is there something you want to do?" she asked.

"No." I just thought maybe we should wait a bit longer." Jill said lamely, not being able to think of a good enough reason to actually wait any longer.

"Well it's already six thirty." Mrs. Pole said looking at the clock that hung on the wall across from the kitchen table. "Besides, you know your little sister; she probably wouldn't be able to wait any longer."

"Alright, then" Jill said, giving in. She walked out of the kitchen into the living room where Lily was still sitting on the couch. She was sprawled out on the living room, and was busying herself with one of her coloring books.

Lily sat up when she saw Jill. "Do you like my giraffe?" Lily asked showing Jill the page in her coloring book with a black outline of a giraffe. Lily had colored the giraffe purple and given it green and pink spots.

"That _is_ an interesting looking giraffe." Jill said looking at the picture. "Mum said it's time for dinner." She told Lily.

"Really?" Lily asked excitedly. She jumped up. "Let's go." She said grabbing Jill's hand and dragging her into the kitchen.

"There's the birthday girl." Mrs. Pole said with a smile as the girls entered the kitchen and sat down at their seats. Jill glanced at the fourth seat, at head of the small kitchen table. It was the one that her father had sat in at meals, before he left. That spot hadn't been set in a while.

"Alright." Mrs. Pole said seating the last casserole on the table and taking her seat.

The dinner began and went on as all birthday dinners at the Pole residence did. The dinner seemed to drag on for Jill. She kept on expecting to hear the doorbell ring or a knock on the door, indicating that her father had finally arrived, but it never happened. Lily, on the other hand was talking excitedly, as she usually did, and she didn't notice her sister's distance in mind.

Soon the dinner was over, and still there was no Mr. Pole.

'Maybe he'll get here while Lily is opening her presents.' Jill thought hopefully. 'That would be nice. Like a surprise for her.'

"Jill will you go get Lily's presents?" Mrs. Pole asked as she began to clear the dishes off of the table.

"Sure Mum." Jill said.

"Yes, finally!' Lily exclaimed excitedly.

"Now you wait in the living room." Mrs. Pole told the overexcited eight-year-old.

"Okay." Lily said dragging herself into the living room, like a scolded puppy.

She went to the closet and got Lily's presents and the card from Eustace from the top shelf. Instead of going back to the living room she went to the window by the front door first and looked out of it. There was no approaching car, or figure on foot. She sighed and returned to the living room where she found Lily and Mrs. Pole sitting on the sofa.

"Here," Jill said smiling for her sister, despite her growing disappointment. "Open mine first." She said handing the wrapped up present to Lily.

"Thanks Jill!" Lily said excitedly.

She began to slowly and carefully take the colorful paper off of the present. That was the thing about Lily. Although she was always in such a big rush to get her presents, whenever she finally did get her presents, she always took the longest time unwrapping them because she hated to ruin the colorful, pretty wrapping paper that the presents came in.

Finally, after Lily had successfully unwrapped the present without a single rip in the rapping paper, she had gotten to the actual present.

"Wow!" Lily said excitedly picking up the journal that Jill had bought. "Thanks Jill."

"You're welcome Lily." Jill said, happy to see that her sister had liked the gift that she had picked out. She remembered the card.

"Oh, and this is from Eustace." She said handing the brightly colored card to Lily.

"He made this for _me_?" Lily asked in awe, as she opened the card. "Wow." She said.

Jill looked up at the clock as her sister studied the card Eustace had made her.

Five minutes has passed. There was still time for him to come.

"Alright Lily," Jill vaguely heard her mother say. "Here's my present."

Jill could here the sound of her sister peeling the wrapping paper from the box of the present, as she remained staring at the clock. She wondered why her father would choose to arrive so late. Surely, in a situation like this, one would arrive as early asa possible.

"Jill." A voice said, followed by some more words that Jill didn't hear.

'He's not coming.' Jill realized at that second. 'He never even planned on coming.'

"_Jill_." Mrs. Pole said with more emphasis.

"Oh, sorry," Jill said snapping back to reality. "What did you say?"

"Isn't your sister's new sweater nice?" Mrs. Pole repeated.

"Oh, yes," Jill said realizing that Lily was now wearing a bright, pink and white stripped, sweater. It must have been Mrs. Pole's gift.

"Yes," Jill said forcing some enthusiasm into her voice. "It looks splendid on you Lils." She commented. "Turn around." told her sister.

With a big, delighted smile, Lily held up her arms high and straight and slowly turned around in a circle.

Jill nodded. "It suits you." She told Lily.

"Really?" Lily asked excitedly.

Jill nodded.

Mrs. Pole looked up at the clock. "Oh look," she said. "It's getting close to your bedtime."

"Oh, mum!" Lily exclaimed. "It's my _birthday_."

"She has a point, mum." Jill said.

"Oh, alright," Mrs. Pole said with a smile.

"Can we have some tea?" Lily asked happily.

"Alright," Mrs. Pole said. "Let's go to the kitchen and I'll fix a pot." She said.

Mrs. Pole and Lily stood up to go into the kitchen.

"Actually, I'm feeling kind of tired." Jill said. She stood up and walked to the staircase. "I think I'm going to go to bed." she added a bit gloomily.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Pole asked, looking at Jill with concern.

"Yes, I'm sure." Jill told her. "I'll see you both in the morning." She said. "Goodnight."

Jill climbed the stairs slowly and walked into the room. She closed the door behind her, changed into her nightgown, turned off her lamp, and climbed into her bed. She pulled the covers up to chin and rested their quietly. She had prepared herself for everything that might happen when he showed up, but she had never thought that he would not show up at all.


	13. Chapter 13 Curing Jill's Rainy Day Blues

**Chapter Thirteen: Curing Jill's Rainy Day Blues**

It was the day after Lily's birthday dinner. It was early in the afternoon, and it was raining relentlessly outside. The gloomy, dark weather reflected Jill's dejected mood. When Jill had woken up that morning she had been perfectly intent on staying pent up in her room and moping all day. She had done just that all morning, to the surprise and confusedness of her mother and little sister. But around two o'clock in the afternoon Mrs. Pole had convinced/ordered Jill to come out of room take Lily outside of the house so that she could go puddle jumping. So Jill found herself trudging down the street in her dark blues rain boots and her violet raincoat, with Lily running enthusiastically a few feet in front of her.

Lily was skipping down the street happily, dressed comfortably in a yellow rain coat, and bright pink rain boots. She took the opportunity to jump into all of the rain puddles that she passed. "Rain, rain, please don't go away, please don't come back another day!" Lily sang happily as she jumped into an especially big puddle, sending sprays of water flying all around her. She shook the excess water off of herself, like a wet dog, and ran back to Jill's side.

"Jill, you haven't jumped in _any_ puddles yet." Jill commented, looking up at her sister.

"I don't feel much like puddle jumping today Lily." Jill told her.

"Why?" Lilly asked sadly. "Is something wrong?"

Jill looked down at her sister in surprise, taken aback that her sister would be astute enough to ask her such a question.

"No, no, nothings wrong Lily." Jill assured. "I just…" she tried to think of en excuse for her behavior, but couldn't think of one. " I just don't feel like puddle jumping today." She repeated.

"_I_ don't believe you." Lily said.

"Well then, I don't know what you believe, because it's the truth." Jill said feeling a bit irritated.

Lily shrugged and began to jump in puddles again, Jill following her sister's excited running and jumping with slow, miserable walking.

It went on like this for a few more minutes.

Suddenly Jill and Lily could both see a figure walking in the opposite direction than they were. It was quite foggy out that day, so they had not been able to see the figure walking before. The closer they got to the figure, the more and more familiar it looked to Jill.

"Eustace!" Lily exclaimed happily. She ran over to the figure who was, in fact, Eustace.

'Oh, yes,' Jill thought to herself. 'Who else could it be?'

"Lily," Eustace said, looking surprised to see her. "Hullo, what are you doing out here all alone?"

"I'm not all alone, Jill's with me." Lily told him.

Eustace looked past Lily and saw that Jill was, indeed, walking towards them. He gave her a friendly little wave, to which she responded to with an even smaller, unenthusiastic wave.

"Eustace I got you card, it was _lovely_!" Lily told Eustace, distracting him from the matter of Jill's odd, unresponsive behavior. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome Lily. It wasn't any trouble. I liked making the card." He told her.

Jill trailed after her sister slowly, not feeling like running to catch up with her.

"Eustace, where's you raincoat?" Lily asked him.

It was true, he had no raincoat, not even an umbrella His hair was wet, making it look darker and it stuck to his face. His clothes were soaked, and darkened by the rain that they had absorbed.

"Afraid I got caught out in the rain with no umbrella or raincoat." Eustace explained.

"Why didn't you just go back to your house and get one then?" Jill asked, finally reaching where Eustace and her sister were standing.

"Rain doesn't bother me." Eustace said waving the matter off. "Hullo, what's wrong with you, Jill?" Eustace asked, getting a close look at Jill's solemn face for the first time.

"What do you mean?" Jill asked, a bit defensively. "Nothing's wrong with me." She told him.

"You look right about to murder someone if they so much as put you off." Eustace commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jill said in a offhand manner.

"_Don't_ believe her Eustace," Lily said. "She's been upset _all_ day, but she won't say why." She motioned Eustace closer, and he kneeled down so he was at her level. She leaned in and used her hand to shield her mouth. "She wouldn't even jump in _any_ puddles!" Lily whispered loudly in Eustace ear. Jill rolled her eyes, she was able to hear her sister's loud whispering clearly. Sometimes Lily thought she was _so_ clever. "So it must be _really_ bad!" Lily whispered to Eustace.

"Is that right?" Eustace asked standing up, looking at Jill curiously.

Lily nodded righteously.

"I don't know what she's talking about." Jill said firmly.

"Come on Jill." Eustace said gently. "You know if something's wrong, you can tell me."

Jill looked up at Eustace. He looked so sincere and concerned, she felt bad for having been a little persnickety with him. But still, she didn't feel like admitting what was wrong, so she just shrugged and didn't say anything.

"You know what, Lily?" Eustace said.

"What?" Lily asked.

"I think Jill needs some cheering up." said Eustace.

"You don't have to cheer me up," Jill said. "Because, I'm not upset,"

"Oh, come off it Pole," Eustace said. "We're cheering you up." He said resolutely. "Come on," he said.

The two sisters looked at each other curiously before they begun to follow Eustace.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked.

"I'm going to show you something really great." Eustace told her.

"I don't know Eustace, I don't feel like walking anywhere to far while it's raining-" Jill begun to say.

"It's not far." Eustace assured her.

Jill shook her head, but continued to follow Eustace nonetheless.

* * *

A few minutes later Jill realized where they were.

"The park?" Jill said questioningly.

"Just wait." Eustace insisted. He lead them to the part of the park were the forest began and continued walking into the dense thickets.

It was still raining, but it considerably lighter than it had been before. Using the skills that she had learned in Girl Guides, Jill determined that the rain would stop in about half an hour or so.

"Rain, rain, don't go away! Don't come back another day!" Lily began loudly.

Eustace laughed. "That sounds a bit different." He commented.

"Well, sometimes when it's raining Jill and I sing 'rain, rain go away, please come back another day' because we don't want rain that day," Lily explained. "But right now I _don't_ want the rain to go away. I want it to be here today."

"Interesting," Eustace said. "You want to hear a song of mine?" he asked.

Lily nodded enthusiastically.

"It's raining, it's pouring the old man is snoring, he bumped his head, on his bed and couldn't get up in the morning." Eustace sang.

Lily giggled. "That's a silly song." She said.

Eustace looked back at Jill, who was slowly walking behind him and Lily, still looking rather miserable.

"You're walking too slowly." Eustace said. He grabbed her hand so that she would keep up with his footsteps.

"_Ooh_, you two are holding hands." Lily said scandalously.

"That's because your sister was being a slowpoke." Eustace told her.

Suddenly Eustace stopped walking a let got of Jill's hand. "Here it is." Eustace said pointing .

Jill looked past the few trees which were in front of the field that Eustace was gesturing to. It was simply an extremely large, clear field. There nothing but long, green grass for a great stretch.

Jill turned around to look at Eustace. "You brought us here to show us a big field?" Jill asked in disbelief.

Eustace shrugged. "Basically."

"Oh Eustace, you're incorrigible." Jill said in annoyance.

Lily, on the other hand, was not so disappointed. "Look at all that space!" Lily exclaimed. She pushed past the branches of the trees and ran out into the field.

"Be careful!" Jill called after her. She sighed, knowing Lily hadn't heard her, and turned around, where Eustace was still standing.

"So," Eustace said.

"So," replied Jill smartly.

"How was the dinner yesterday?" Eustace questioned, looking like he hated to ask, but knew he had to.

"It was fine." Jill told him.

"Just fine?" Eustace asked.

"Yes, just fine," Jill said. "It was fine, and completely uneventful."

Eustace looked at her curiously.

Jill sighed. "He didn't show up Eustace." She told him. "I don't think he even planned on coming in the first place."

"Oh," Eustace said. "So that's why you're so down today."

Jill sighed again. "Yes, I suppose I am down." She admitted.

"Well," said Eustace. "He never actually said he would come." Eustace reminded her.

"That is true…" Jill said. "But he could have at least told me he wasn't going to come at all, instead of making it seem as if there was a chance and getting my hopes high."

"I agree." Eustace said. "But maybe he didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"But he _did_ hurt my feelings." Jill said bitterly. "Eustace, why are you standing up for him?" she asked.

"Because," said Eustace. "Remember what I said before? Most parents try to do what's best for you, even if what they _think_ is best for you isn't. But they really have your best interests in mind, and you can't blame them for that can you?"

Jill didn't have a response to them

"And," he said. "Imagine what would have happened if he had come."

"It would have been a disaster." Jill said knowingly.

"See?" Eustace said. "So, in a way, he kind of did the right thing."

"…Eustace, how did you get to know so much about parents?" Jill asked.

Eustace shrugged. "I told you," he said. "Parents are odd. But mine are especially odd, so I've learned a lot through observation."

Jill had to giggle at that. "Hey," she said, noticing that something had become different. "The rain's stopped."

"It has." Eustace said, just noticing it himself. "Jill! Look at the field." He said quickly.

Jill gave him an odd look but, nonetheless, she turned around and pushed aside the branches of the trees to look out at the field. "Oh, _wow_," she gasped.

The field had become filled with different colored wild flowers which certainly had not been there when Jill had first looked at the field. The last time Jill had looked at the field it had been a desolate, barren area, now it was a bright, gorgeous painting-like landscape.

"They always come up in these fields after it rains." Eustace told her sheepishly. "I don't know why, but they do."

"It's so pretty." Jill said absentmindedly as she gazed at the field full of flowers.

"Now are you glad I dragged you all the way over here?" Eustace asked.

Jill smiled. "Yes I am, Eustace." She admitted. "Thank you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Though, I don't see why you were so adamant on bringing us here when I was upset. You could have just taken Lily, since the two of you seem to be such wonderful friends now." Jill commented.

"What's the matter Jill?" Eustace asked. "Feeling a bit jealous?" Usually Eustace would not dare to make a joke like this to Jill; he would feel much too embarrassed at the implication. But when he was sure a comment like that would make Jill all flustered and mortified, he couldn't resist. He'd never admit, not even to himself, but Jill looked quite cute when she was flustered.

"What are you even talking about Eustace?" Jill said, turning a light shade of red. "Why would I-"

"Calm down Jill, I was just joking," Eustace told her. He was still smiling, obviously amused by the whole thing.

"I-I wasn't even upset." Jill protested, feeling a bit embarrassed that Eustace had made such a joke at her expense.

Eustace just kept on smiling.

"Very funny, Eustace." Jill said sarcastically, though she couldn't help smiling herself.

Jill was saved from any further embarrassment when she heard Lily stomping back from out of the field. "Look what I made." She said holding up a small bouquet of wild flowers, which she had picked from the field.

"Those are very pretty, Lily," Jill said. "Maybe we can find a vase at home to put them in." she suggested.

"Really?" Lily asked.

Jill nodded.

"Let's go now!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright," Jill said.

The three of them walked away from the field and out of the park

"Well, I think this where I leave you," Eustace said when they were near where his house was.

"Alright," Lily said.

"Bye, Eustace." Jill said. "Thank you for trying to cheer me up." She added. "It worked.

Eustace smiled and waved as he walked on to his house.

* * *

"Do you feel better now, Jill?" Lily asked her older sister, as the two of them walked home.

Jill nodded. "I do." She nodded. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she smiled. "Race you home!" Jill exclaimed suddenly.

"Hey! That's not fair, you got a head start!" Lily exclaimed indignantly as she ran to try and catch up her sister.

Mrs. Pole could hear the sound of giggling at the front door. She watched as her to merry daughters ran through the front door laughing, Jill a few feet inn front of Lily.

"Well, it seems as if you two had a rather fun afternoon." Mrs. Pole commented.

"I suppose we did." Jill said, breathing a bit heavily from the "race" she had run with Lily. She pushed her wet, light brown hair back. It had become drenched when she had taken off the hood of her raincoat, and was now sticking to her face.

"Jill, you seemed so sad when you left this morning." Mrs. Pole noted.

"We ran into Eustace!" Lily told her mother happily.

"Oh." Mrs. Pole said with a sly smile. "That explains it."

"_Mum_." Jill said indignantly. "Just what do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Mean? Why I didn't mean anything, honey." Mrs. Pole said slyly. "Lily," she said turning away from Jill to talk to her younger daughter. "Go upstairs and change out of those wet clothes, you're dripping everywhere."

"Okay, Mummy." Lily said obediently. She walked to the staircase and began to climb the stairs. "It's raining it pouring the old man in snoring," she sang loudly as she skipped up the staircase. Jill had a feeling her sister would be singing that song for a while.

* * *

**And that was Chapter 13: Curing Jill's Rainy Day Blues. Hopefully, I'll be able to get Chapter 14 up pretty soon.**

**Riley13**


	14. Chapter 14: The Trouble with Eustace

**Alright, so I've FINALLY gotten to writing chapter fourteen of this story. I know it's been forever and a day since I updated, don't have a better excuse for that except that I'm a high school student: I procrastinate and I'm constantly distracted by my hormonaly driven, angsty teen drama. Just kidding...actually, not really :( ****I haven't forgotten about this story though, and I plan to finish it before the summer's over. This wave of creativity was inspired by seeing Walden Media's Prince Caspian, which rocked my lame world and reminded me how much I love the Chronicles of Narnia and C.S. Lewis ..._Anyway_ I'm going to stop ranting now.**

**Chapter Fourteen: The Trouble with Eustace**

All was quiet in the Pole household. This was quite normal, since it was nearly twelve o'clock in the morning, and the entire neighborhood was surrounded by a peaceful, silent atmosphere. There was only one lamp on in the Pole's house, and it was located in the living room where Jill was at the moment, patiently sitting on the armrest of their faded, blue sofa. She watched, in slight curiosity, as her mother rummaged around the back of the living room closet. Jill had no idea what her mother was looking for, but according to the woman it was something important and it had something to do with Jill. However, Jill's curiosity and excitement levels were lessened by the fact that she desired to go to bed, as Lily had done about two hours ago. In fact, that had been exactly where she was heading when her mother decided to go salvage the item from the closet. Jill had stopped to talk to her mother on her way to her bedroom, and apparently some part of their conversation had triggered something in Mrs. Pole's memory that reminded her of the object. Mrs. Pole had insisted that she retrieve the item at that very moment, else she might forget later on.

And so, the fourteen-year-old remained waiting, despite her desire to go to bed. After about two minutes, which seemed more like two hours to the drowsy Jill, Mrs. Pole remerged from the closet, dragging out with her an old, large traveling trunk from the back of the living room closet. The piece of luggage had gathered dust from sitting in the back of the Poles' closet, but it was still in rather good condition. Jill guessed that it must have been in that exact position for a good number of years, because she had never seen the trunk in her life. It was made of smooth oak wood, which had a grainy gold-brown color to it. There was a shiny, gold colored lock on the lid with a key hole in the center. There were two clasps, the same gold color of the lock, surrounding the lock for further security.

"It's a trunk." Jill said. She was stating the obvious, but she was too tired to say much else at the moment.

"This is the same trunk I used when I was at boarding school." Mrs. Pole said proudly. "Now that you're going to be boarding, I think this will be very useful to you."

Jill silently noted that it was that time again, a time that was usually dreaded by all schoolchildren: the time when they were forced to come to terms with the fact that their summer holiday had come to an end, and it would soon be time for them to return to school. This usually occurred just when the schoolchildren possessed only a slight amount of time before they would actually have to return to their establishment of higher learning. Jill also noted that she had about a week of summer holiday left. The first five weeks of her holiday had somehow gone by, despite the many days that seemed to drag on and on.

Like most schoolchildren, Jill usually attempted to stay in denial about the fact that she would soon be going back to pouring over textbooks and writing essays. Unfortunately she was unable to stay in her blissful land of denial because, like most parents, Mrs. Pole made sure to constantly remind Jill that she would soon be returning to school. She did this in little ways, such as telling Jill that she needed to come up with a list of necessary supplies that she needed to take to school, or suggesting that Jill start studying more, less she wanted to be rusty and unprepared for when school began. In Mrs. Pole's mind, that one week of summer holiday was nonexistent, except for the purposes of getting things ready for after the holiday.

"I'm afraid it hasn't been put into much use since I finished my schooling." Mrs. Pole said as she studied the old trunk. "The things been sitting there since we moved into the house. But it's still in good shape, and it's yours now."

"Thanks." Jill said. She wearily noted the look that was on her mother's face: that goofy, ecstatic face of a mother who is watching her child grow and reminiscing about how that child was nothing more than an infant who needed to be fed and changed. It was the same look she had on her face when Jill was eleven-years-old and starting Secondary Form at the Experiment House. Jill remembered getting dressed in her uniform for the first time and how her mother had seemed far more awed by the experience than she herself had been. Mrs. Pole had looked at the eleven-year-old Jill in wonder and said, "You're staring Form Two Jill. Can you _believe_ it? _You_. And in just four years you'll be starting Stage Four. And after that you'll be in Form Six. And before you know it you'll be finished with school and thinking about getting married and having babies."

Jill wondered if she would have to listen to a similar rambling speech that night. She tried to hold back a groan of annoyance. She knew her mother was simply being a mother, and that she was happy with the way Jill was maturing. But Jill just didn't particularly enjoy having her whole life laid out in that manner. As if it were nothing but a summary of some novel, which someone could start and finish reading in the same day. For some reason she couldn't exactly explain, it made her feel rather uncomfortable. It made her feel like things were going too fast and it would all be over before she knew it or before she was ready. It was a disturbing thought, so she tried to keep it out of her head. But when her mother got into one of those moods, there was no stopping the feeling from creeping its way into her heart.

Fortunately Mrs. Pole did not start one of her small, heartfelt monologues. Instead she undid the clasps of the trunk and opened the lid. The inside of the trunk was lined with a soft black fabric, and inside the lid the fabric was slightly loose, forming a small pocket of sorts. Mrs. Pole reached inside the pocket and pulled out a key. It was the same gold color as the lock and the clasps. She ceremoniously handed it to Jill.

Jill smiled as she took the key. Although she was tired, and hating being reminded that the summer holidays were as good as gone, she still had enough mind to appreciate the moment. This time she wasn't simply starting a new grade or a new form. This year she was leaving home, going to a boarding school. Although most girls her age had long since been at boarding school, Jill couldn't help but wonder if she was ready, but another part of her insured her that she was.

"Can you believe it?" Mrs. Pole said with a small smile. "In just a week you'll be starting Stage Four. _You_."

Jill sighed inwardly. She should have known that it was coming.

"You remember just two or three years ago, you were starting out Form Two at that school of yours."

"Yes mum, I remember." Jill said.

"And now you're leaving home." Mrs. Pole said. "Just what are we going to do without you Jill?"

"Oh mum, it's not as if I'm leaving forever." Jill said, although she couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret at the thought of leaving her mother and sister to go live with a bunch of people she didn't know. But it wasn't as if she chose to. It was what everyone did, what was expected. "I'll come back during all the holidays."

"I know." Mrs. Pole said gently patting her daughter on the shoulder. "Oh," she said in slight alarm as she looked up at the clock, as if finally realizing how late it was. "You should get to bed, honey." She told Jill. "I'll just put this trunk back into the closet, and we'll get it out when we need it."

"Alright," Jill said softly. "Goodnight mum." She said softly before giving her mother a goodnight kiss on the cheek.

As Jill descended the stairs to her bedroom, she couldn't help but think about what she had discussed with her mother. Although she had always known that this time was coming, it was not until that moment that she had finally realized what was happening. She was leaving everything behind, everything and everyone.

* * *

Jill woke up the next day with the conversation with her mother still on her mind. It was bright and early when she got out of bed and got dressed. She tried to think of things to do, other things to think of, but it was impossible. She spent most of the day musing over everything, until late in the afternoon when she found herself sitting outside on the porch of their house, doing nothing. Lily was happily playing in the front yard, jumping rope with her bright blue and purple skipping rope.

Jill wished she could be like Lily. It took so little to keep her occupied, to make her happy. And she was almost never down. Jill had to laugh at herself. She thought about how many times that summer she had been down; the time her mother had invited Scott Foreman to dinner, the time she felt as if her mother didn't care about, the problems she'd had with her father. She had heard of the moody teenage years, but she was starting to feel rather ridiculous.

It occurred to her that every time she had been in one of those moods one person had single handedly managed to make her feel better. Eustace Scrubb. She smiled to herself as she realized that all that summer, whenever she was feeling down or confused there he was. He'd appeared every time as if he subconsciously knew that he was needed, and he'd always had something to say which would make her feel better. She didn't know how he did it, but she was thankful.

She silently wished that Eustace would appear right at that moment. She'd ask what he was doing, and then he'd tell her that he just happened to be in the neighborhood. 'Come to think of it,' Jill thought to herself. 'He always just happens to be in the neighborhood.' But then he'd notice that she looked rather miserable. She'd try to blow it off, as if nothing was wrong, but he'd pursue the matter. Not in an annoying, invading way. But in a casual way that Jill almost wouldn't notice. He would start talking bout something else, but somehow he'd make Jill confess everything, her insecurities about going to a school where she knew no one, her sadness about leaving her family. Then he would say…

Well Jill actually had no idea what he would say. She had no clue as to how Eustace's mind worked. But he'd say something…something really profound. Not something that would have come out of the mouth of Plato or Aristotle, but it would be something that was very profound and impressive to her. Something she never would have thought of on her own.

Jill knew there was no chance of that happening, after she had just had an entire daydream of the thing, she was highly doubtful it would actually happen. She had the urge to get up and walk to his house. But on the other hand, she didn't want to bother him with any more of her problems. She was sure that after all the problems she'd laid on him so far he was bound to get tired of it eventually. However, she could never imagine Eustace all of a sudden deciding that he didn't want to be friends with her anymore,

That would be very…Un-Eustace.

And then it hit her. When she left for school, there wouldn't be any Eustace either. She would be going to an old girls boarding school, and Eustace would be going to a single sex school as well, the same school that his cousin Peter had attended, and that Edmund still went to.

It was the first time she'd actually thought about it. Ever since their adventure in Narnia together, Jill had become very used to Eustace's presence in her life; at the Experiment House, and during the summer. But the fact that Eustace and her would be going in different directions had been just as obvious as the fact that she would be leaving home. She'd just…never stopped to think about it.

The urge to walk to his house and find him returned, and this time she gave into it. She stood up and walked across the long.

"Lily," she called out to her sister, who was still skipping rope. Lily stopped mid skip, the rope falling on her head as she turned to look at her sister. "If mum asks, tell her I've stepped out for a bit, alright?" Jill did _not_ want Mrs. Pole to know she was going to Eustace's house. Every time Eustace's name was brought Mrs. Pole just had to tease her daughter about being secretly in love with him. 'It's not as if I have anything to hide' Jill told herself. 'I just hate when she does that. It's so embarrassing.'

"Alright, where are you going?" Lily asked, more interested in Jill's destination than in actually doing what Jill had asked of her.

Jill should have known that it would not be enough for her to ask Lily to do this favor, but that the eight-year-old would need more information than that. Jill didn't mind though. It was one of the things that her little sister was great for. Whenever she needed an accomplice Jill would go to Lily, because Lily got as much excitement out of Jill's secrets as she did herself.

"I'm going to talk to Eustace." Jill told her.

Lily still got great enjoyment out of teasing Jill about Eustace being her "boyfriend". But Jill didn't mind as much when it was Lily. "_Ooooh_." Lily called out scandalously as Jill made her away across the street and down the sidewalk in the direction of Eustace's house.

* * *

The Scrubb's house was very neat looking, at least from the outside. Jill would not call her own home messy or neglected looking, but it was just nowhere as neat as the Scrubb's home. Their house was, in fact, almost so neat that one could claim an excess of neatness. The lawn was trimmed very short and the grass was so green that it was as if someone had taken a green marker and meticulously colored every single blade of grass, careful not to leave the smallest part uncolored. The small bed of the flowers was arranged so that everything was perfectly symmetrical. The house was painted a shade of white that was almost blinding in the bright summer sunshine of that day, and all of the windows were so clean that the sun reflected brilliantly off of each one of them.

Jill had never actually been inside Eustace's house. Or even on the front lawn. Or on the sidewalk that bordered the front lawn. She only had the knowledge of where the house was located and a vague memory of what the house looked like from one time when she and Eustace had walked home from school together. The first week that they had returned from Narnia, which was starting to feel like ages ago to Jill, she would always look forward to the end of the day when she could meet up with Eustace. Then she could proceed to probe him for more information about Narnia. They're adventure had only been days ago and Jill was still positively ecstatic about and amazed by the place. The excitement of the magical world and all its wonders was still in Jill's mind. Eventually, she began to not only enjoy hearing about Narnia, but the company of the person she was hearing about it from. As the days went by it seemed like there was less to know about Narnia, but the two schoolchildren still found other things to talk about. One of the subjects that fascinated Jill the most was Eustace himself. She'd had such a biased opinion on him before. She remembered when he'd been no more than a rude, stuck-up, boy who was constantly trying to earn the favor of Them. But those first days of talking to him had completely changed her view on his character. It was those first few days that she'd actually come to associate words like "brave" and "kind" with Eustace. Those were previously two words she would have never used in the same sentence as the name Eustace Scrubb.

Usually, on the occasions that they walked home together, Eustace insisted on being a gentleman and walking Jill all the way back to her house, even though his own house was closer to the Experiment House. However, one day he had needed to return home right after school and did not have the time to walk Jill home. Jill had jokingly decided that it was her turn to "be a gentleman" and walk Eustace to his house. She had insisted on this partly because she wanted to keep on talking to Eustace, and partly because she was really very curious to see where Eustace lived.

Jill tried to summon to her memory those past conversations of theirs as she nervously walked up the sidewalk and to the front door of the house. She tried to remember everything that Eustace had ever mentioned about his home life. But then she realized that he had never mentioned very much about it at all. All she knew was that he was an only child, and that his parents were very…stiff, was the word she'd used to describe them. At least that's how they had seemed whenever she encountered them. And Eustace called them by their first names, Harold and Alberta. That was very odd. He didn't seem to close to them at all. She remembered when she had been pretty sure that her own mother didn't care about her, but it seemed that she was much closer to her mother than Eustace was to either of his parents. But he didn't appear to think that they didn't care about him.

Jill finally got the courage to knock on the door of the Scrubb's house. She waited for about a minute. Eustace didn't come to the door. 'Maybe he's not here…' she thought to herself. She was about to knock again when the door was suddenly jerked open. She was greeted with the site of a woman about two inches taller than her, and about twenty years older than her. Her eyes were the same color as those of Eustace, but that was pretty much where the similarities ended. She had a look on her face that clearly stated that she was wondering what Jill was doing there. It was Alberta Scrubb.

"May I help you?" Mrs. Scrubb asked. Her tone was quite polite, but somehow it was obvious to Jill that the woman was slightly annoyed at her for interrupting her life and forcing her to answer the door.

"Um, yes," Jill said tentatively. "I'm Jill Pole, I go to school, or I mean, I _went_ to school with your son."

Mrs. Scrubb didn't seem to have anything to say to that, and continued to look at Jill as if she were expecting more of an explanation as to why she was now standing on their doorstep.

"I believe you met me and my mother and sister in the park that one time…" she trailed off when Alberta continued to stare at her in manner that clearly stated what she was thinking-'So?'

"I was wondering if I could…talk to him?" Jill asked cautiously. "Eustace I mean."

Alberta looked as if she wanted to ask exactly what business Jill could possibly have to discuss with her son, but she obviously thought would be something to gauche to inquire.

Obviously Eustace didn't have many visitors come calling at his house.

"Alright." She said, opening the door a bit wider. "Come in, then." She said when Jill continued to stand on front of the door. Jill tentatively entered the house.

"I'll go fetch him." Alberta said before descending upstairs to where, Jill supposed Eustace's house was.

Jill waited next to the front door. She noticed that the Pole's house was just as neat on the inside as it was on the outside. The hardwood floor shined as if it had been polished only minutes ago. Not one thing was out of order or laying around, and the whole place smelled of cleaning chemicals.

A few minutes later Jill heard footsteps and saw Mrs. Scrubb returning with Eustace a few steps behind her. Mrs. Scrubb reached the bottom of the steps, and immediately went into what Jill could see was the kitchen without saying another word to anybody.

Jill watched Eustace walk down the rest of the steps. He hadn't looked up yet. She noticed that looked a bit worn, he seemed to drag his feet and he just did not seem to be as lively as he usually appeared.

He finally looked up and saw Jill. "Jill." Eustace said, looking surprised. Obviously his mother had not told him exactly who his visitor was. "Well, hullo." He greeted, seeming to regain his composure.

"Hello." Jill greeted with a smile.

"This certainly is a surprise." Eustace said.

"I know," Jill said sheepishly. "I hope this isn't too much of a bother-"

"No!" Eustace exclaimed quickly. "No." he repeated in a tone much more suited for the indoors. "I wasn't doing much of anything actually."

"Oh, alright," Jill said. "Maybe if you're not busy we could-" Jill paused for a brief second, not knowing exactly what she had expected when she walked over to his house or what she had come for. "Talk, or something." She finished.

"Alright," Eustace said. He glanced back in the direction of the kitchen. It was then that Jill realized that Mrs. Scrubb must be listening to their conversation. "Do you want to sit outside on the porch?" he asked.

Jill nodded, taking his hint that they wouldn't be overhead outside.

Eustace walked to the front door and held it open for Jill before walking outside himself.

"Thank you." Jill said softly.

Eustace closed the door behind him and then sat down on the step of his porch. Jill followed suit and sat down next to him.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Eustace asked.

Jill couldn't help but notice that he seemed a bit distracted. He was sitting there with her but his mind seemed elsewhere. Even his voice seemed to sound as if it was far off.

"Oh, nothing in particular," Jill said. "I just," She'd just wanted to spend time with him, while he lived a few minutes walk away and before they were millions of miles away at different schools. "I just thought that since you're always coming to pay me a visit, I should return the favor."

"That's very thoughtful of you." Eustace said. It was the type of thing you would say to an acquaintance, the type of person who you constantly, unconsciously remain stiffly polite around, because you don't know how else to act around them, the type of person with whom you had a relationship of quite short standing with. Jill frowned, though this went unnoticed by Eustace. She was expecting him to say something else. Perhaps tease her. Tell her that she just couldn't go too long without seeing his handsome face. Or else make some other kind of remark. She'd never seen him like this, so detached. Even before they were friends, he'd always been the sort of person who had to make his presence known. Back then it was with a high and mighty air, nowadays it was with a more friendly air. But now there was…nothing.

Maybe he was troubled about something, like she had been so many times that summer. Maybe be she could help him feel better, like he'd done for all those time. Finally repay him.

"Eustace?" Jill said cautiously.

"Yes?"

"Is…something wrong?" she asked.

He looked up at her with the more attention then he'd had her whole visit. "No, nothings wrong." He denied immediately. "Why do you ask that?"

"You just seem…well, bothered, I guess." Jill said.

"I'm not." Eustace said. "I suppose I'm just tired."

Jill nodded, even though she was quite sure that he was not tired and something was, indeed, bothering. But how to get him to tell her what it was?

"Really, it's nothing." Eustace told her, noticing the unbelieving expression on Jill's face.

They both jumped when they heard a bang from the side of the house. Jill saw that it was just the sound of one of the windows on the bottom floor being opened.

"Eustace Clarence." Alberta's voice rang out stuffily. "It's time for dinner."

"Well," Eustace said. "I better go."

"Oh, right." Jill said. "I should probably be getting home to." She stood up, and Eustace did too.

Jill knew, when she looked at him, that it was nothing she had done. It was obvious from his expression that he'd rather be sitting outside on the porch with her than having dinner with his parents. She imagined a kitchen, the walls and all the appliances white. There were generic looking slices of meat and other side dishes on the tanle, but the kitchen wouldn't have the appetizing scent of dinner foods, but of antibacterial soap. The Scrubb family would be seated around the table. Alberta and Harold would probably hold a conversation about something that they considered a  
proper" subject for the conversation, and Eustace would sit there, occasionally speaking when spoken to, but otherwise silent.

"Well, then, I suppose I'll see you later." Eustace said, snapping Jill out of her vision of dinner with the Scrubb family.

"Right," Jill said. She thought of informing him that later was not a whole lot of time seeing that the summer holiday would be over in a week, but decided not to.

"Goodbye," she said walking of his porch and across the lawn.

"Bye." Eustace said. He watched until she was on the sidewalk and good way down the street before going back into his house. As if he were making sure that nothing happened to her those few minutes she had to walk.

It was still light outside, but judging by the position of the sun, it was almost six o'clock and Jill knew she had to hurry back home for dinner. She walked back still slightly disturbed about her visit with Eustace. She didn't know what was wrong, but she promised herself that she'd try her best to find a way to make him feel better.

**And that was chapter fourteen. I hope it didn't dissapoint. Please R&R.**

**Riley 35**


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